By David Martinez / Boxing Historian

Boxing is not a sport to me, it is passion, and what happened on June 9 hurts, the result of Timothy Bradley winning a 12 round split decision over Manny Pacquiao last Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada. I have seen many terrible decisions in my fifty years following the sweet science; the few that instantly surface to the top are: Louis – Walcott I (1947) , Ellis – Patterson (1968) , Zarate – Pintor (1979) , Holmes – Spinks I (1985) , Lewis – Holyfield I (1999) , and Williams – Lara (2011).  Now this one ranks right up there with these I mention.

I am still trying to digest this horrible decision. It is clear to the boxing fans that viewed the fight that Manny won and it wasn’t even that close. Even the occasional boxing fan who saw the fight would agree that Manny clearly was the winner.  He outclassed Bradley in every way imaginable. He landed more punches. He landed more power shots. He dictated the pace and tempo. My good friend Harold Lederman at HBO sitting live ringside scored the fight 119-109 (11 rounds to 1) in favor of Manny, and for the record my scorecard was 117-111 (9 rounds to 3) for Manny.

Something is wrong, and very wrong with this kind of scoring in boxing. I had a friend call me the next day excited that he won a bet by picking Bradley. My only comment to him was, “You didn’t win anything, you stole that money like a robber; so do the proper thing by donating your winnings to cancer research or to your local church and your mind will be at peace.”

Manny did not deserve this, to lose his WBO welterweight belt in this manner. The biggest losers here were certainly the fans. Yes it stinks and this is why I have always maintained that the sole element that continues to haunt boxing like an evil curse is a blatant BAD decision right before your very eyes!

TOP RANK MAKES FORMAL REQUEST

TO NEVADA ATTORNEY GENERAL

FOR FULL INQUIRY INTO PACQUIAO vs. BRADLEY

             LAS VEGAS, NEV. (June 11, 2012) – Bob Arum, Chairman and CEO of Top Rank, said today that he has submitted a formal request to the Nevada Attorney General’s office for a full and complete inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the scoring of Saturday’s WBO welterweight championship fight between defending champion Manny Pacquiao and challenger Timothy Bradley. The Pacquiao-Bradley welterweight title fight took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

“The public has a right to know. The fighters have a right to know,” said Arum. “The only way to restore fans’ confidence in boxing is by letting an independent body investigate every detail of the fight no matter how big or small. Sunshine never hurt anyone.”

Bradley, the undefeated WBO junior welterweight champion, won a controversial split decision, dethroning Pacquiao on scores or 115-113, 115-113 and 113-115, in a fight most ringside media and fans thought Pacquiao won by a wide margin.

By Tom Donelson

( Member Boxing Writers Association )

Pacman loses on the Scorecard what he won in the Ring

7-5, 9-3,-11-1, 8-4, 11-1 These were the samples of the scores by ringside observers in favor of Manny Pacquiao who won his fight in the ring and lost it on the judges’ card.  And that 100 million dollar pay day with Mayweather is now put on hold until Pacquiao wins the rematch and Mayweather gets out of jail. Or we may have seen potentially one of the great fights gone.   For the past four years, we have seen the dance between Mayweather and Pacquiao and now the biggest pay day in boxing may never come thanks to the boxing hierarchy and promoters who put their own interest ahead of the sport.

As for the fight itself, Bradley was the aggressor throughout most of the fight but it was ineffectual aggression as Bradley rarely hurt Pacquiao but the Pacman managed to hurt Bradley a few times.  At the end of the third round, Bradley got stunned by a wicked right hook.  At the end of the fourth round, Bradley almost went down from solid shots a couple of times. At the end of the fifth round, Bradley was again in trouble.  At the end of the sixth round, Pacquiao lands six to seven unanswered punches with Bradley on the rope.

Bradley did better in the last three rounds but this was fight that should have been declared over on the scorecard long before that but Bradley got his break. He was left standing and because of that, he found a way to win on the judges’ scorecard.  Bradley is a good fighter but he is not quite in Pacquiao’s league and tonight there was little to suggest that he deserve a victory.  And you will be hard press to find anyone who believed otherwise. Continue reading Pacquiao ~ Bradley →