Of all the words of voice or pen, the saddest are?what might have been.
Some wise guy once said that so it got me wondering to how Saturday?s classic Manny Pacquaio-Juan Manuel Marquez WBC title bout would have turned had Dick Flaherty and not Tom Miller been the third judge scoring it alongside veteran Nevada judges Duane Ford and Jerry Roth.
The answer to that is a shocker. The answer is stunning. The answer is mind-blowing.
Had Flaherty, a Boston area resident and ex-Massachusetts State Police lieutenant who put 33 years into law enforcement, been in the third chair and had not, more or less, ?recused? himself when Pacman trainer Freddie Roach publicly mentioned that his ex-boxing judge mother, Barbara Roach, knew Flaherty, the outcome would have been?
EXACTLY THE SAME!
You would have seen Ford?s 115-112 Pacquiao vote, Roth?s 115-112 Marquez tally and Flahety?s 114-113 Pacman tiebreaker, the same exact final number that Ohio resident Miller reached after 12 grueling rounds.
I rang Flaherty up in Braintree, Mass., to give him a friendly Sons Of Erin St. Patrick?s Day greeting and to see how he viewed the main event from a ringside seat where he sat near former Nevada commission director Mark Ratner. Flaherty was switched to the semi-main bout when the possible issue of an appearance of impropriety cropped up.
First, the veteran referee and judge praised the Mexican ringmaster.
?I thought he was just technically superb in there. He knows where he is in the ring and what he is doing at all times. I mean, he was almost tactically perfect.
?But Pacquaio was also improved from their first fight. Give credit to Freddie because Manny has become a better boxer. He?s cut down some wasted motion. I think that Pacquiao won the fight although I did not sit there and score each round,? Flaherty said.
?I would probably agree with Tom Miller and that 114-113 Manny score because of the two knockdowns in the third round.?
Although Flaherty misspoke and Marquez was only on the deck once in that round, I knew what he meant. Towards the end of the round, Marquez was hurt and held himself up by using the ropes as a brace. Ref Ken Bayless could?ve called that knockdown if he felt only the ropes kept Marquez off the floor but he did not.
?I would say that Pacquiao won with the knockdown round making the difference,? Flaherty said.
Flaherty said his familiarity with Roach?s mother was overblown.
?I last saw her three years ago when the Veteran Boxer?s Association gave Freddie an award,? Flaherty said. ?It was just a social occasion. She moved from Boston some time ago and I think she lives in Las Vegas. I didn?t see any problem on it. I?ve voted for Freddie?s fighters and against them. He?s had some good fighters. But Nevada saw a problem and I don?t need to have any controversy with the Nevada commission. I accepted them switching me to the other fight but I was looking foreward to working Marquez and Pacquiao.?
Should there be a hopefully more decisive third bout?
?I think so because the public will want to see it. But I wonder if both boxers can take it physically. They?re taking a lot out of each other in these bouts. It would be a big fight, though, no question about it.?
What might have been? According to judge Flaherty, the end result would?ve been the same, the thin victory of Pacquaio.
