LAS VEGAS ? Not to be outdone by Manny Pacquiao?s religiosity, newly crowned WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley Jr. credited his ?guardian angel? for guiding his corner en route to scoring a huge upset at the MGM Grand Garden Arena here Saturday night.
At a press conference three days before the fight, Bradley said an orange-and-black butterfly that flew over him on the platform was a sign that O. J. Couture, his late trainer as a kid, would protect him.
?Butterflies are like a new beginning, a new life,? said Bradley, quoted by Leighton Ginn of The Desert Sun. ?That?s the significance of butterflies.? It was Couture who told Bradley ? when he was 10 years old ? he would someday become a world champion. Bradley said the butterfly was Couture?s way of showing his presence.
Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, meanwhile, said he spoke with Pacquiao?s evangelical Christian pastor Jeric Soriano ? son of the late actor Nestor de Villa and Marilu Cacho ? before the bout and was assured that 10,000 angels would be behind the Filipino icon in the ring.
?I talked at length with his pastor (who) told me not to worry, that he reminded Manny this is his sport, his job, his responsibility to perform as best he can,? said Arum, quoted by Ed Graney in the Las Vegas Review Journal. ?He told Manny that every time he throws a punch, 10,000 angels will be behind it. If I can go into the ring with 10,000 angels, I can beat the Klitschko brothers,? Graney said, ?the pastor?s words better have sunk in and those 10,000 angels better not get lost on their way to the MGM.?
As it turned out, Bradley?s celestial symbol of Couture got the jump on the pastor?s 10,000 angels. Or maybe, Bradley?s angel influenced judges C. J. Ross and Duane Ford to turn a blind eye on Pacquiao in scoring the bout. Someone said that God helps those who help themselves but if a fighter thinks he can win a match exclusively on faith, he might be in for a rude awakening.
Bradley?s father Big Ray remembered Couture sizing up his son as a wide-eyed boy 18 years ago. ?O. J. told me I?m not here to suck and jive you, I?m not pulling your leg but look at the way he carries himself,? said Big Ray. ?I know fighters, I know champions when I see them. Not everyone can be a champion that comes here.?
Bradley, 28, said when he walked into Couture?s gym, he was inspired by the photographs of Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson and Sugar Ray Leonard on the walls. ?O. J. asked me if I wanted to box and gave me an application to fill out,? said Bradley. ?He was looking straight through me and told me right then, ?You?re going to be a champ.? After three weeks, I had my first amateur fight. Boxing changed me and God put boxing in my life. O. J. later died. My father kept the roll of gauze O. J. used on my hands when I was a kid. I used them the night I fought (Junior) Witter (for the WBC lightwelterweight title in 2008) and O. J. was coming into the ring with me that night. O. J. was always there for me, always on me. He made sure I was doing well in school. He cared a lot. I was the kid that made it and they knew it. That?s the crazy part. They told me all the time that they saw I had talent and the work ethic.?
Despite his pre-fight pronouncements that Couture would be his guardian angel, Bradley thought he lost to Pacquiao when the final bell sounded. He even walked up to Arum saying ?I tried hard but I couldn?t beat the guy.? Then, the butterfly reappeared, in a manner of speaking. In a shocker, Bradley was declared the winner by a split decision. Pacquiao couldn?t believe it and for a while, Bradley, too ? until the euphoria of victory swept him off his feet. Before long, Bradley said he deserved to win.
The punchstats revealed a different story because the figures ? which don?t lie ? indicated Pacquiao dominated the bout with more punches thrown and a higher connect rate on total blows, jabs and power shots. The punchstats did not break down the numbers round by round but Graney disclosed that ?Pacquiao landed more punches in 10 of the 12 rounds.?
Boxing experts and reporters, who witnessed the travesty at ringside, were stunned by the brazen display of injustice. The Associated Press, Las Vegas Review Journal and Mexico TV boxing analyst Eduardo Lamazon had it 117-111 for Pacquiao. The Philippine Star saw it 116-112, also for the Filipino.
While Pacquiao failed to dispose of Bradley by knockout as expected, the consensus was he had done more than enough to earn the verdict. Pacquiao appeared to lose steam down the stretch, probably because of the excess weight he put on, but by then, the outcome was academic or so it seemed. Pacquiao checked in at 150 pounds for the fight after scaling 147 at the weigh-in, the heaviest in his career. A Pacquiao team insider said his new-found religiosity might have blunted his competitive edge as he left his fate in God?s hands, spent late nights studying the Bible with his pastor and didn?t seem to take Bradley seriously. As for Bradley, it took only one angel to deliver the biggest win in his career ? a miracle of epic proportions even if undeserved.
