Fans who felt swindled after learning that Manny Pacquiao was injured going into his long-awaited fight with Floyd Mayweather in 2015 cannot follow through with a class-action lawsuit because they were disappointed with the outcome, according to a verdict by the U.S. appeals court Thursday.
The ruling applies to both those who watched the fight on pay-per-view and fans in attendance at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
“The Fight of the Century” fell short of expectations, as Mayweather cruised to a unanimous decision victory. The fans turned their ire on defendants Pacquiao, Mayweather, HBO (which distributed the pay-per-view) and promoter Top Rank and its CEO Bob Arum. However, The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 3-0 that the fans “got what they paid for” even if Pacquiao’s alleged injury was one of the reasons that the fight turned out to be a dud.
Judge Jacqueline Nguyen wrote: “Although the match may have lacked the drama worthy of the pre-fight hype, Pacquiao’s shoulder condition did not prevent him from going the full 12 rounds. Plaintiffs therefore essentially got what they paid for – a full-length regulation fight between these two boxing legends.”
Pacquiao revealed immediately after the fight that he had injured his right shoulder nearly four weeks earlier. His team believed that the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which presided over the fight, would have allowed Pacquiao to take an anti-inflammatory drug to numb the pain but paperwork reportedly was bungled. As a result, the commission learned of the injury three hours before the fight started. The commission denied the team’s request for a shot at that time.
“We are very pleased,” Daniel Petrocelli, a lawyer for Top Rank and Arum, told Reuters. “The court established the very important principle that while sports fans may be zealous and passionate they do not have the right to sue because they are disappointed in how a contest was conducted, or in the outcome.”
As unsatisfactory as the fight was, Mayweather-Pacquiao generated a record 4.6 million pay-per-view buys and more than $400 million in revenue.