It appears all is not well between Manny Pacquiao and Top Rank CEO Bob Arum. The latter questioned Pacquiao's professionalism after cancelling a recent appointment with a Los Angeles doctor in order to travel to Indonesia to visit a Filipino woman on death row.
"We were hoping to save Mary Jane's [Veloso] life, I think Mary Jane is a victim of human trafficking," Pacquiao said. Veloso was sentenced to death after being discovered with 2.6 kilograms of heroin sewn into a suitcase.
Arum was not pleased with Pacquiao's humanitarian reasoning as an excuse to cancel his appointment. Following his loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr., Pacquiao underwent shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum. Arum said recovery from the surgery should be Pacquiao's priority.
"Pacquiao was supposed to come over and see the doctor but for some reason he decided to cancel it. So he's not acting very professionally," Arum said. "When you've got an operation like that you've got to get into rehab. You've got to get the doctor to look at it, and guide you as to the kind of rehab that you've got to do."
When asked when Pacquiao will be back in the ring, Arum's response betrayed his annoyance that Pacquiao skipped his appointment.
"He's a grown man and he makes his own decisions but as far as I'm concerned he's not an active fighter."
When Pacquiao does return to the ring, he may find his options limited. Two of the premier welterweights, Amir Khan and Keith "One-Time" Thurman, may not be available to him because of the separation between Top Rank fighters and fighters under Al Haymon's Premier Boxing Champions stable. Danny "Swift" Garcia is also fighting on the PBC, and Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach has previously said he would like Pacquiao to match up with him.
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