Lawsuits over Mayweather-Pacquiao fight to be decided in California

Upwards of 32 different lawsuits from eight different states relating to the May 2 fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather will be decided in a California federal court.

A panel of judges decided Friday that the similar claims from multiple jurisdictions should be consolidated and heard in the Central District of California, where Pacquiao allegedly injured his shoulder. The proceedings could be quite complex, with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation saying in their decision that discerning the timing and severity of Pacquiao's injury could require expert discovery.

Plaintiffs from all over the United States are seeking damages after Pacquiao hid a shoulder injury ahead of the fight. The argument is that by hiding the injury, Pacquiao defrauded ticket buyers, gamblers, and the 4.4 million viewers who paid $100 for the fight on pay-per-view.

Pacquiao's camp and Top Rank attorney Daniel Petrocelli have maintained that Pacquiao disclosed the shoulder treatments he was undergoing. He did not, however, disclose his shoulder injury in a pre-fight medical questionnaire.

Mayweather, his promoters, HBO, and Showtime have been named in some of the lawsuits, too. Representatives for each declined to comment to The Associated Press.