After 48 minutes in the boxing ring, Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley crushed a nation?s vision of Manny Pacquiao?s invincibility, captured a world title and remained unblemished as a prizefighter.
Not bad for a night?s work.
“It was a magical moment,” said Bradley on Sunday while riding back home to Palm Springs.
Bradley not only toppled the upper echelon of boxing?s elite; he showed that willpower may be more important than knockout power in a world championship fight.
Bradley took Pacquiao?s WBO welterweight title and placed himself smack in the middle of the heavily populated welterweight division. The other titleholders include Paul Malignaggi, Devon Alexander and of course Floyd “Money” Mayweather. But first, there?s the rematch with Pacquiao.
Back in March both Bradley and Pacquiao signed a contract with a rematch clause inserted that assured both would meet again on Nov. 10 in Las Vegas. After 12 rounds two of three judges felt the Palm Springs fighter was superior. The HBO television crew and the many pro-Pacquiao fans felt Pacquiao deserved the win. A rematch is the perfect answer.
“I definitely felt I won,” said Pacquiao, who had not lost a fight since March 2005 when Erik “El Terrible” Morales won by decision. “But it didn?t go my way.”
Bradley said the decision was correct.
“I felt that I was going to win the fight regardless if people felt I didn?t win the fight,” Bradley said. “It?s definitely going to be a different fight in the rematch.”
Despite two sprained ankles, Bradley was able to navigate the dangerous waters that Pacquiao presents each and every fight. He nimbly avoided the big blows and attacked when the opportunities presented themselves.
“I had to just try and step around, I felt the pain in my foot but I just had to block it out and keep fighting. One injury was on the top part where I felt the pop. Another on the side where it?s completely swollen,” explained Bradley. “I felt the shots, but I?m in really good shape. I didn?t go down. I got hurt once in there where I had to hold. But I survived. Most of the opponents he faced, they go down.”
During the sixth round it was evident that Pacquiao was not fighting throughout the three-minute rounds. Instead, the Filipino southpaw slugger was cruising around the ring for the first two minutes of every round, allowing Bradley to work the jab and go to the body.
“He kept trying to get me to fight him, to open up, so he could knock me out,” said Bradley of Pacquiao?s fight plan. “When I started throwing after stepping around, that?s how I controlled the action. But the jab said it all. Manny couldn?t get off like he wanted to.”
Overall, it was a very close fight.
“I knew he was trying to win the rounds by throwing punches in the last 30 seconds and I wasn?t going to allow that,” said Bradley. “That?s why I brawled with him to prove to the judges that I wasn?t afraid of him.”
All three judges saw a nip and tuck contest. In the end, two of three saw Bradley prevail.
“First I?ll beat Pacquiao in the rematch, then I?m going after Floyd Mayweather,” said the new WBO welterweight champion.
CRITIQUING HBO
During the last three rounds, Bradley took full advantage of Pacquiao?s two-minute rests and the judges noticed. The HBO television crew covering the fight seemed to have a ready-made script they were sticking to, regardless of the action in the fight. None of the analysts openly felt Bradley had won more than one round of the dozen. They were mistaken.
One example was round two, when Bradley and Pacquiao were entangled and the Palm Springs fighter reeled off 11 blows. Two judges scored it for Bradley but the HBO crew incredulously gave it to Pacquiao.
Meanwhile, throughout the fight, the television crew was giving a very biased analysis of the actual action. Whenever Bradley landed a combination it was mostly ignored. When Pacquiao fired punches and missed they were expounded upon almost embarrassingly as examples of his superiority.
It wasn?t a fair assessment.
Another hit and miss was Compubox, which records the punch statistics of the fight. Though Bradley clearly took advantage of Pacquiao?s two-minute rests during the second half of the fight, the punch tabulators seemed frozen at the button. In round nine, Bradley landed nine blows before Pacquiao began to punch. And the Palm Springs boxer landed plenty more during that round, but Compubox registered only 21 connects. By my count, it was more like 40. It?s not a perfect science because they can?t see all of the blows landing. But it?s another example why those statistics cannot be used as justification for any fight judgment. It?s merely an entertainment device.
Fights on television
Friday
FX, 6 p.m., Gray Maynard (11-1-1) vs. Clay Guida (29-9).
Telemundo, 11:30 p.m., Glenn Donaire (19-4-1) vs. Daniel Lozano (11-0).
Saturday
NBC Sports, 7 p.m., Tomasz Adamek (45-2) vs. Eddie Chambers (36-2).
HBO, 10 p.m., Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (45-0-1) vs. Andy Lee (28-1).
