Pacquiao was scheduled to travel to the U.S. two weeks ago to see Dr. Neal ElAttrache of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic in Los Angeles to check on the progress of his post-surgery rehab.
There was no explanation from Pacquiao for why he failed to show up at the clinic other than words from his adviser, Michael Koncz, that Pacquiao will travel to the U.S. by end of this month.
Pacquiao is recuperating from his injured shoulder while on training and during his fight against Floyd Mayweather on May 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Sought for comment on Pacquiao’s failure to keep his appointment with his doctor, Arum said Pacquiao isn’t acting professionally.
“Well, Pacquiao was supposed to come in to see the doctor, and for some reason, he decided to cancel it and come later,” Arum told Dyan Castillejo of ABS-CBN News on the sidelines of a Top Rank fight card in Dubai.
Shaking his head, Arum added: “You know, he’s not acting very professionally, in my opinion.”
“You got an operation like that, you got to do rehab, you got to get the doctor to look at it and guide you on the kind of rehab that you can do,” he also said.
In anther interview, Arum also told the New Standard/boxingmirror.com that Pacquiao “promised me he was leaving for the US this weekend (July 18) which he’s not.”
He said it was “a serious operation. He’s a professional athlete. It don’t know what to say. To me it’s totally irresponsible.”
But Arum could have kept his emotion under control if he just phoned Pacquiao to find out why he failed to see his doctor on schedule rather than telling media about Pacquiao’s unprofessional action.
It may be recalled that Pacquiao opted to travel to Indonesia on July 8 to fulfill his promise to Mary Jane Veloso, a death-row prisoner in Indonesia who was due for execution by firing squad last April but was given reprieve after a drug trafficking suspect who recruited Veloso surfaced in Manila.
Pacquiao could have also called Arum about his failure to keep his appointment with his doctor in Los Angeles but apparently he did not for whatever reason.
Seemingly, these actions manifest an early sign of mutual disrespect for one another. Hopefully it does not escalate to threaten their decade-old partnership.
Pacquiao has been fighting under Arum’s Top Rank Promotions since 2005. The last time the contract was renewed happened last year when they both agree to extend it until end of 2016.
“We are pleased that together with our partners at HBO we will continue presenting to the public fights of the great Manny Pacquiao through the end of 2016,” Arum said.
“The partnership among Manny, Top Rank, MP Promotions and HBO has been a wonderful one for all parties and for the public and it’s great that it will continue for the years to come,” Arum added.
Pacquiao has been Top Rank’s cash cow for the last 10 years and certainly he doesn’t deserve to be alluded to in public by his own promoter as “irresponsible” or “unprofessional,” if that is what Arum really meant.
