INDIO ? There’s not much that Oscar De La Hoya agrees on with rival boxing promoter Bob Arum, except when it comes to boxing judges.
Like Arum, Golden Boy Promotions’ De La Hoya believes boxing needs reform when it comes to judging in light of Timothy Bradley’s controversial victory over Manny Pacquiao two weeks ago.
Two of the three judges scored the fight 115-113, or seven rounds to five, in favor of Bradley. The third judge scored it 115-113 for Pacquiao. Commentators for HBO, which televised the pay-per-view fight, had Pacquiao dominating a lopsided fight.
De La Hoya, who has a card at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino on Saturday, spoke to The Desert Sun on Monday about the Bradley bout.
?I think the first step in helping the sport is getting better judges, get younger judges. Go out there and recruit new judges with training. It doesn’t take a lot to judge a fight,? De La Hoya said. ?When you have 99.9 percent of the fans watching and saying Pacquiao won, why is it you only have three judges say Bradley won? It’s a matter of training these judges to make the right call.?
De La Hoya had Pacquiao winning either seven or eight rounds, which was closer than how the commentators and Arum had the fight. But De La Hoya did think Pacquiao clearly won the fight.
?There’s no doubt about it,? De La Hoya said. ?I watched it over and over again. I turned down the volume, I turned up the volume, I put it up on giant screen TV, anything. I thought Manny Pacquiao won the fight.?
On the night of the fight, De La Hoya tweeted he thought Bradley should relinquish the belt and say Pacquiao won the fight. But Monday, De La Hoya said he was impressed with Bradley’s performance.
?Bradley gave a tremendous, tremendous effort,? De La Hoya said. ?He showed a lot of heart, that championship spirit. There’s no losers there whatsoever. Both fighters won. So long as you have a tremendous fight, no one loses.?
Having said that, De La Hoya thinks a rematch might not be such a good idea.
