Who really defeated Manny Pacquiao on Saturday night? Was it his opponent in the ring, Timothy ?Desert Storm? Bradley? Or was it ringside judges C.J. Roth and Duane Ford, whose 115-113 cards in favor of Bradley overruled judge Jerry Roth?s 115-113 tally for Pacquiao?
The split decision after 12 grueling rounds gave Bradley Pacquiao?s WBO welterweight title, and ended a seven-year winning streak for the Pac-Man. Erik Morales was the last man to hang an ?L? on Pacquiao, who knocked Morales out in both subsequent rematches. Bradley, who was moving up from junior welterweight, was the underdog in this bout. Had the decision gone against him, he would still have gained praise for his determined effort.
If this had been a jury trial instead of a boxing match, Bradley would have won the verdict, but lost in the court of public opinion. Before the fight, most experts and observers believed that Pacquiao would prevail against his younger, undefeated challenger. After the decision was announced, most experts and observers believed that Pacquiao should have been declared the winner.
Yes, there are some who think Manny faded in the championship rounds, allowing Bradley the opportunity finish with a title-winning flourish. But even if he was tiring, Pacquiao still landed plenty of power punches. Bradley did not exactly chase him out of the ring. Tim put up a creditable fight. But he did not take the WBO belt from Pacquiao. Two judges handed it to Bradley on a tinfoil platter.
Pacquiao went into this contest hoping to erase the bad memories of his last fight, in which he won a hotly disputed decision over long-time rival and nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez. Being the victim of a bad decision now could be seen as a case of karmic payback for Pacquiao. As the old cliche says, however: Two wrongs don?t make a right (But one wrong does?). An injustice is an injustice, period.
Manny Pacquiao was not outboxed on Saturday. He was not outslugged. He was not outhustled. He was not outwilled. He was not frustrated, as he had been in the Marquez fight. He was not suddenly transformed into an old man.
He was robbed, pure and simple.
This result begs for a rematch ? with different officials, of course. It?s the most lucrative moneymaking opportunity out there for Bradley. And Pacquiao needs to right the wrong those two judges did to him.
Meanwhile, if Floyd Mayweather Jr. is not banging his head against the bars of the cell in which he is serving his sentence for assault, he should be. He could have fought Pacquiao in 2010 or 2011. Instead, he jacked around and let (made?) the opportunity slip away. Even if Pacquiao gains revenge against Bradley, and fights Mayweather sometime in the near future ? like next year ? the match will have lost just about all the fan appeal it would have had earlier. And the significance of the result will be diminished.
That?s almost as sad as the judges? scorecards were on Saturday.
