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| Michael Bradley and Manny Pacquiao. (AP photo) |
Boxing has made a huge comeback in recent years, as the two best fighters in the world, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, have put the spotlight back where it's supposed to be - in the ring. Even though both fighters have danced around the match we all want to see - the two fighting each other - no one could complain about the efforts both put forth in their respective fights and the spectacle that goes along with it.
While it would have been great to see Pacquiao and Mayweather fight already, it's been a heck of a lot of fun watching both trying to one-up each other with better performances, better pay-per-views buys and total money made each time they step into the ring. For the first time in a long, long time, boxing had life.
Then came Saturday night.
On this night, Pacquiao was the one to take centerstage in Las Vegas, as he put his title belt on the line against challenger Timothy Bradley, who was a rightful competitor, as his undefeated record and strong mental makeup would suggest. Some even picked Bradley to pull the upset in the fight.
Then the two squared off in the ring, going toe-to-toe in an exciting match that had tons of action, including big-time punches landed. Unfortunately for Bradley, he was the one taking the beating, getting out-punched by around 2-to-1 by the champion. Pacquiao was dominating the fight to the point where Bradley looked simply outclassed in the contest.
Pacquiao was putting to rest some talk before the fight that he might not be at his best, for whatever reason. Pacquiao, to the contrary, was as good as ever, giving people more and more reason to plead to the boxing gods, and the evil promoters, to make the fight between him and Mayweather happen sooner rather than later, and possibly rather than never.
Pacquiao played each round perfectly, sparring his opponent in the first two minutes and then exploding in the final 60 seconds with numerous landed punches. It was enough for me scoring at home to award Pacquiao every single round except one. I scored the fight 119-109. A blowout. Not even close.
Then came this announcement: The winner and new champion, Timothy Bradley.
My first reaction to two judges (C.J. Ross and Duane Ford) scoring the fight 115-113 in favor of Bradley was complete and utter shock. They had to make a mistake. Something had to be wrong. This couldn't be happening.
But it was and it did. Somehow, someway Bradley had defeated Pacquiao in the minds of two judges (the other judge had the fight 115-113, Pacquiao). Don't ask me what those two judges were thinking, because I couldn't tell you. I could watch the fight a hundred more times and still couldn't explain it.
Pacquiao won this fight. He won it going away. He outclassed Bradley in every way imaginable.
Yet here we are, right back where we started, with boxing being called a complete joke. And how else can it be described right now? This boxing decision was a complete and utter farce. A failure to the point where your mind automatically goes to corruption and fixes and all the stuff that made boxing something fans left in droves years ago, heading over to MMA fighting and WWE wrestling.
With one terrible decision, all that momentum boxing had built over the past few years has been washed away in a cloud of controversy.
How bad was it? Well, even Bradley himself had the body language of a losing fighter after the match, before the decision was read. He had no hope he would be called out as the winner, that was obvious. Even in the post-fight interview in the ring, his words spoke of a confident, winning fighter, but everything else about him in the moment exposed his own utter disbelief.
Next to him, Pacquiao could only smile, knowing he had won the fight.
The crowd? They too went from shock to anger in seconds, booing the decision lustily for minutes, including when Bradley spoke in his interview.
How about the promoter of both fighters, Bob Arum? "[Tim told me before the decision] 'I tried hard and I couldn't beat the guy,'" Arum said. "You talk about killing boxing. Even [Bradley's] manager had it 8-4 for Pacquiao. Something like this is so outlandish; it's a death knell for the sport."
How bad was it? Well, even Bradley himself had the body language of a losing fighter after the match, before the decision was read. He had no hope he would be called out as the winner, that was obvious. Even in the post-fight interview in the ring, his words spoke of a confident, winning fighter, but everything else about him in the moment exposed his own utter disbelief.
Next to him, Pacquiao could only smile, knowing he had won the fight.
The crowd? They too went from shock to anger in seconds, booing the decision lustily for minutes, including when Bradley spoke in his interview.
How about the promoter of both fighters, Bob Arum? "[Tim told me before the decision] 'I tried hard and I couldn't beat the guy,'" Arum said. "You talk about killing boxing. Even [Bradley's] manager had it 8-4 for Pacquiao. Something like this is so outlandish; it's a death knell for the sport."
It was the worst possible thing that could happen to the sport of boxing.
Sure, there will be a rematch, because money is the root of everything in boxing. But if I'm Pacquiao, I wouldn't waste my time trying to go after Bradley again. Who would care? With three new judges, Pacquiao would destroy him, just like he did Saturday night, with the only difference being his arm would be raised in victory.
Instead, Pacquiao should continue to look for a fight with Mayweather. Maybe the silver lining to this embarrassing and disgusting result could be Mayweather sees an opening, a weak link to the great fighter Pacquiao is and will agree to a fair deal for all parties.
That's about the only good thing that could come from a night that brought boxing back to its days of fans everywhere believing the whole darn sport was corrupt. Right now, that's what I'm thinking and I have a strong feeling I'm not the only one.
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