LAS VEGAS — Injustices like the split decision that gave Timothy Bradley a controversial victory over Manny Pacquiao on Saturday are not unusual in boxing.
Yet that doesn’t make the stunning outcome of their welterweight title fight Saturday at the MGM Grand any easier to fathom.
Pacquiao connected on 253 of 751 punches (34 percent), compared to 159 of 839 (19 percent) for Bradley, and outlanded the challenger in 10 of the 12 rounds.
The Filipino absorbed Bradley’s best shots in the early rounds and, undeterred by his opponent’s rapidly diminishing power, relied on his speed and power to batter Bradley into retreat.
“I don’t remember if he hit me with one punch,” Pacquiao said afterward.
Yet ringside judges Duane Ford and C.J. Ross both scored it 115-113 to Bradley, dissenting with Jerry Roth, who had it 115-113 to Pacquiao. (SI.com scored it 116-112 to Pacquiao.)
It marked the end of a remarkable run for Pacquiao that spanned more than seven years and 15 victories, dating back to his last loss against Erik Morales in 2005.
After everything he’s done for boxing, Manny Pacquiao is the last person who should have been cheated like this.
Let’s be honest: it’s been a rough year for Pacquiao, Inc.
The consummate sportsman, he’s been taken for granted. He’s been held to an impossible standard. And it’s not his fault our microwave society is so easily bored and overeager for the next thing and doesn’t appreciate what we have until it’s gone.
This wasn’t Bradley’s fault. He turned in a heroic effort, overcoming foot and ankle injuries to his left and right feet (respectively), and never stopping from taking the fight to Pacquiao.
It just wasn’t enough to win.
“There are three judges out there. What do you want me to do?” Bradley said, when asked whether he felt he deserved to win. “We definitely have to do it again.”
They will fight a rematch in November — Arum said it will happen in Florida, Texas or Nevada — and Pacquiao said he’ll be as motivated as ever. There’s little question that he’s past his peak: the Pacquiao of three years ago would have closed the show in the fourth round, when he had Bradley holding on for dear life after unloading a fusillade of punches from angles that defied geometry.
Yet there he was early Sunday morning, addressing the press after coming up on the wrong end of a gruesome miscarriage of justice, and what did he say?
“Whatever happens, don’t be discouraged about boxing,” Pacquiao said. “Next time.”
