NEW YORK — Floyd Mayweather added another wrinkle to the fallout of his fight against Manny Pacquiao by saying he would be open to a rematch after the Filipino southpaw recovers from shoulder surgery, according to an ESPN report Tuesday. Mayweather has one fight remaining on his Showtime contract and has repeatedly said he intends to retire after a bout fight in September, although after Saturday's fight he told reporters that he is “human” and occasionally contradicts himself. “I will fight him in a year after his surgery,” Mayweather, who earned a unanimous decision over Pacquiao, told Smith in a text Tuesday, according to ESPN. Mayweather's reported comments added to the complicated aftermath of the so-called “Fight of the Century,” with possible lawsuits in the works and Pacquiao likely to face disciplinary action for failing to disclose a pre-bout shoulder injury. Barely one hour after the contest ended, Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, said the 36-year-old southpaw had been hampered by a previous injury to his right shoulder. On Monday, an MRI scan in Los Angeles confirmed the boxer has a torn rotator cuff that will require surgery. “We have an MRI scan that confirms he has a rotator cuff tear. He has a significant tear,” orthopedic surgeon Neal ElAttrache told ESPN.com. Apparently neither Pacquiao nor his team informed the Nevada Athletic Commission about the shoulder issue until a couple of hours before the start of the fight when they asked for an anti-inflammatory injection. At that point, it was too late for the commission to investigate whether Pacquiao was suffering a genuine injury and there were no MRIs or medical paperwork to support the claim made by the boxer's team, the commission said. When Team Pacquiao filled in its pre-fight medical questionnaire Friday, a query about any shoulder injury was clearly marked “No” before the form was signed by Pacquiao and his advisor. Nevada Athletic Commission chairman Francisco Aguilar said Monday that the state attorney general's office will look at why Pacquiao checked “no” a day before the fight on a commission questionnaire asking if he had a shoulder injury. The fact that Pacquiao did not disclose his injury until the night of the fight could also lead to possible lawsuits from boxing fans who may feel cheated after paying record sums for tickets in the MGM Grand Garden Arena or pay-for-view (PPV). Some of the ringside spots in the 16,800-seat arena demanded up to $350,000 on resale site StubHub while a record $300 million or more is expected in PPV revenue from at least three million customers who paid $100 to watch. Pacquiao's promoter put out a statement on behalf of the fighter late Monday afternoon saying that the injury was disclosed to the US Anti-Doping Agency, which approved the use of an anti-inflammatory shot for the fight. But USADA was only a third party to the fight, charged only with testing the fighters for banned substances in training and the night of the bout. “We had no medical information, no MRIs, no documents,” said Travis Tygart, who heads the USADA. Tygart said his agency, which was hired by promoters to oversee drug testing for the bout, was contacted April 7 asking about the use of various substances and whether they were allowed under anti-doping rules. He said there was another call 10 days later asking about using a different substance, again for what the USADA was told was an unspecified shoulder problem. A little more than two hours before the fight, Pacquiao's corner asked Nevada regulators if he could be given a shot of Toradol, an anti-inflammatory. Aguilar denied it, saying the commission had no previous indication there was an injury and could not allow a shot in fairness to the Mayweather camp. — Agencies
