This time Manny Pacquiao is almost assured of victory against WBO welterweight titleholder Timothy Bradley even if the fight goes the distance and with Bradley dominating on unofficial fans scorecards. A knockout or a very impressive performance by the Filipino star will make it easy for the judges to render a legitimate verdict and pave the way for a trilogy. What will raise most fans eyebrow is a decision by the judges for a fight that will have Bradley winning on points but with the final verdict going in favor of Pacquiao. According to some fight observers, this scenario appears to have been hatched by Pacquiao’s promoter possibly in collaboration with some fight officials in order to justify a trilogy or a lucrative third fight between Bradley and Pacquiao. It may be recalled that Pacquiao became a victim of a seemingly flawed scoring by the judges two years ago that angered millions of boxing fans around the world.
In the highly controversial decision following their first fight in June 2012, two judges sided with Bradley while the other had Pacquiao winning the fight for a controversial split decision. All the judges gave identical scores of 115-113 but one judge had Pacquiao on top. The controversy led to an action by World Boxing Organization (WBO) to summon five seasoned boxing judges to review the video of the fight and they all confirmed that Pacquiao was the clear winner. At least 55 media members watched the fight, and 52 voted in favor of Pacquiao as the winner while only three voted in favor of Bradley. Statistics from Compubox also revealed that Pacquiao threw and landed more punches. Pacquiao and Bradley are both fighting under the umbrella of Top Rank Promotions, headed by promoter Bob Arum. Pacquiao remains as the top money earner for Top Rank with Juan Manuel Marquez and Bradley contributing substantially to the company’s coffers. A win by Pacquiao over Bradley will likely trigger a third encounter between these two Top Rank fighters and assure Arum of another lucrative boxing event early next year. And if Marquez wins over Mike Alvarado, who is likewise a Top Rank fighter, Arum could immediately start hyping a fifth fight between Pacquiao and Marquez towards the end of the year. Thereafter a trilogy can happen by early 2015 between Pacquiao and Bradley. The Marquez-Alvarado fight is scheduled for May 17 at The Forum in Inglewood, CA. Since there is no law in the US that prohibits “recycling of fighters” belonging to the same promotions outfit, Arum has found it more lucrative and convenient to promote fighters from his own Top Rank stable of fighters. Golden Boy Promotions, Arum’s top competitor, is likewise doing the same. But there is growing discontent among boxing stakeholders who are concerned about the future of the sport. Boxing fans have grown weary of being fed by promoters with recycled fighters, giving them limited option to watch competitive fights.
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