Pacquiao was been fighting with an injured shoulder even before the Mayweather fight. According to his longtime trainer Freddie Roach, Pacquiao has complained of recurring shoulder pain in the past but it was only during the second phase of his training for the Mayweather fight that the pain became almost unbearable.
Right after the Mayweather fight, Pacquiao had to undergo a major surgery to repair his torn shoulder rotator cuff. Renowned Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Neal ElAttrache performed the surgery at his clinic in Los Angeles nearly a year ago and last January he cleared Pacquiao to fight again.
Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz said Dr. ElAttrache “considers Pacquiao’s shoulder as good as new.”
“The doctor is very pleased with the way the shoulder has healed,” Koncz added.
If indeed it is true that Pacquiao has fully recovered from his surgery after a year-long therapy, he should be able to use his right hand to complement his powerful left hand against Bradley.
It may be recalled that Roach took many years to develop Pacquiao’s right hand and he claimed he was successful in doing so as Pacquiao was then knocking out opponents left and right until 2009 when he had his last knockout win against Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico.
While Pacquiao won a unanimous decision against Bradley during their second encounter, the retirement-bound Filipino star failed to score even a knockdown against then unbeaten Palm Springs fighter.
With two good hands working for him now after bearing for many years of recurring pain, Pacquiao should be able to score a knockout win on fight night.
But with veteran trainer Teddy Atlas on Bradley’s corner, he must have already put in place a plan to deal with Pacquiao’s newly refurbished shoulder.
Bradley wanted to zero in on Pacquiao’s injured shoulder as one of his options but Atlas has not talked about it openly as he seldom shares Bradley’s fight strategy.
Pacquiao’s right hand is as deadly has his left and if Atlas isn’t worried about it, he is in for a big surprise.
