Pacquiao undergoes surgery, expected to resume career next year

Manny Pacquiao should be able to resume his boxing career in 2016 after undergoing surgery Wednesday afternoon to repair a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder, according to his doctor.

Pacquiao suffered the injury during training for his fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden and reinjured it during the 12-round bout, which he lost by unanimous decision.

In a statement released by Pacquiao’s publicist, Fred Sternburg, Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who performed the surgery in Los Angeles, said “he could not be more pleased with the results and fully expects Manny to make a full recovery and be back in the ring.”

No information was released regarding the name of the hospital or how long the surgery took. Estimates are that Pacquiao will need eight to 10 months to recover.

Whether Pacquiao’s next fight is a rematch with Mayweather depends on the day and who’s thinking what on that particular day.

In a text message sent Monday to ESPN on-air personality Stephen A. Smith, Mayweather said he would be willing to wait and give Pacquiao a rematch. But that could easily change in the weeks and months ahead. Mayweather also has said he will fight in September and then retire.

Mayweather (48-0, 26 knockouts) admits he has been known to contradict himself. So has Pacquiao’s promoter, Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. He told ESPN.com on Tuesday that he thought a deal could be made for a rematch.

But on Wednesday, Arum wasn’t getting involved in such a discussion.

“No one’s ready to make any commitments to a rematch,” Arum said. “Manny was operated on (Wednesday). We’ll see how he does with his rehab and when he can get back in the gym and train.”

Arum said there’s no guarantee the 36-year-old Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs) will even fight again. But that seems highly unlikely.

“It would depend on his arm,” Arum said. “He’s not going to risk his life to fight unless the doctors clear him and that he would go into the ring 100 percent.”

Such wasn’t the case Saturday. With his right shoulder an issue, Pacquiao entered the ring essentially a one-armed fighter and Mayweather dominated him before a sellout crowd of 16,507 at the Grand Garden, with millions more having paid $99.95 to watch on pay per view.

After the fight, it was disclosed that Pacquiao hurt the shoulder in early April and had been receiving several anti-inflammatory drugs to keep the date with Mayweather.

Pacquiao was hoping to receive a shot of Toradol, an anti-inflammatory, before entering the ring Saturday. But the Nevada Athletic Commission said he could not, stating that his prefight medical questionnaire indicated he wasn’t hurt.

The commission has since referred the incident to the attorney general’s office to determine if Pacquiao perjured himself on his medical forms and might ultimately proceed with disciplinary action against the two-term Filipino congressman at its June meeting. The NAC’s next meeting is May 15, but there isn’t enough time to put a disciplinary hearing with Pacquiao on that agenda.

So why would Mayweather, who is expected to make $180 million to $200 million from Saturday’s fight, be willing to wait on Pacquiao? Because there might not be anybody else Mayweather could fight that would generate enough interest from the public to be deemed worth watching.

There simply aren’t many options for him to close out his stellar career. He owes Showtime one more fight on his six-fight contract, and if he decides to wait until next spring, he can make good on his agreement at that point.

But what if Mayweather decides to fight in the fall? Amir Khan said Wednesday he could make a September date with Mayweather even though he will be observing the monthlong Muslim holiday of Ramadan from early June to early July. Khan will fight Chris Algieri on May 29 in Brooklyn, N.Y.

If Mayweather can’t reach terms on a fight with Khan, he could fight Danny Garcia, who has plans to move up to 147 pounds from 140. He could face Lamont Peterson, who also is looking to move up to welterweight and who lost to Garcia on April 11 at a catch-weight of 143 pounds. Maybe he’ll give a chance to Kell Brook, the unbeaten International Boxing Federation welterweight champ, assuming Brook beats Frankie Gavin this month.

Outside of Khan, who might bring some of his United Kingdom fan base to Las Vegas, there’s not a lot to sell. So it essentially comes back to Pacquiao, who was expected to make about $120 million from Saturday’s fight.

If a healthy Pacquiao could resume training by February, he could make a spring date for the rematch, which probably would be at the 20,000-seat MGM-AEG arena under construction behind New York-New York. The $375 million facility is expected to be ready in April 2016, and Mayweather has expressed interest in being the first event in the new building.

Whether the public would even buy a rematch is another story. Right now, one of the participants is unable to participate.

“Let’s see how Manny does and how well he recovers before we start talking about rematches,” Arum said.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.