Manny Pacquiao was lucky to exit the ring with a ?W? on Saturday night after going 12 tactical rounds with his archrival Juan Manuel Marquez, notching a majority decision by scores of 114-114, 115-113, and an absurd 116-112 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
There were no real winners, however, as Pacquiao did not look good, Marquez suffered another hard luck setback, and the event itself was marred by the usual mewling media members who think that every fight is an excuse to cry ?robbery,? ?controversy,? and ?This will affect My P-4-P rankings!?
Not only will a writer opine that this fight was a ?robbery,? he will also insist on the objective reality of his statement. This is what paranoid schizophrenics do. To say that Pacquiao only won three rounds is as silly as saying Marquez only won four. Glen Trowbridge, who scored the fight 116-112 in favor of Pacquiao, is a fine candidate for an Abilify prescription or a slot on the masthead of some self-important website.
If Marquez won?and it looked like he did?then he won by the slimmest of margins. Ditto Pacquiao. But close fights are no longer allowed to be close these days because of the shrill, collective neurosis of the media. Some of these writers would have been treated for hysteria by Charcot 150 years ago. In addition, compiling polls that gather their opinions is like asking a haruspex for his two cents. After all, you would be polling fellows who thought Andre Berto clearly beat Victor Ortiz. And you would be polling arrogant cub reporters who thought that David Haye drew against Wladimir Klitschko.
