LAS VEGAS (AFP) - Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao revealed he was battling a right shoulder injury on Saturday in his unanimous decision defeat by American Floyd Mayweather in their welterweight bout.

Pacquiao hurt his right shoulder in training camp some three weeks before the fight, an injury severe enough to have him considering postponing the "Fight of the Century".

"But one week before the fight my shoulder was getting better and better," he said of his decision to go ahead.

But the shoulder began hurting in the third round, he said, "and what we wanted to do we couldn't do because of my shoulder".