The scores from the WBO’s 5-judge panel review of the controversial welterweight title fight between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley were released on Wednesday, with results as shocking as seeing LeBron James wearing basketball sneakers. The scores were 117-111, 117-111, 118-110, 116-112, and 115-113, all for Pacquiao.
If the 5 judges heeded Bradley’s “Everybody turn down the volume and watch the fight. You can see I won the fight,” rant on The Boxing Lab radio recently, then Bradley’s insistence of a win must mean two things. He’s either painfully in denial about his win, or he reviewed the match with judge Duane Ford telling him how to score rounds. Advertisement
Bradley recently addressed those who question his win during a victory celebration in his Cathedral City hometown saying ?Forget all the doubters and haters,? Bradley said. ?I know there’s a lot of Pacquiao fans, but it doesn’t matter because I brought the belt back to Cathedral City. We’re 29-0, so keep hating.?
Hating?
Why does it have to be hate, when it’s simply the truth?
I for one was vocal about my opinion regarding the outcome of Pacquiao’s split decision win over Juan Manuel Marquez last November. I felt Marquez did enough to outpoint Pacquiao in a tightly-contested slugfest, amidst criticism and bashing from many Filipino boxing fans. But this one wasn’t even close. Anyone who knew anything about the sport of boxing, from the media, trainers, experts, hardcore fans, current and former champions like Andre Ward, Victor Ortiz, and even one of Pacquiao’s biggest detractors, Floyd Mayweather, Sr., saw a Pacquiao win. It was clear as day to see like, no “Stevie Wonder”.
This is definitely not Bradley’s fault. He didn’t score the fight. But there’s something about finding an attache case filled with money and not returning its rightful owner that’s disturbing to many. Maybe that’s a bad analogy. Bradley worked his butt off to win against Pacquiao, and by all means, gave it his best, and a great account of himself in standing toe-to-toe with a man that other champions chose to run away from, if not fall to.
I have known Bradley to be a classy individual in my personal encounters with him. He’s far from the pompous, loudmouth, and disrespectful character Money Mayweather perpetrates. Surely there’s a part of him that feels awful for the criticisms he’s gotten in the aftermath of his victory. But as the echoes vibrate louder regarding his undeserved victory, it’s only right for a true champion like him, to return his belt and simply ask for a rematch. It’s more consistent to his high character, than all the posturing he’s doing as of late, when he himself looked doubtful of his win just moments after the fight during the post-fight press conference. That way, his pride remains intact together with his undefeated record, and the proposition of a rematch all of a sudden feels more right than it does at the moment.
But I could be wrong. Bradley may truly believe with a clean conscience that he won. If that’s the case, then he can take that belief to the grave knowing that audio or no audio, live or replay, the whole world believes he didn’t. I mean, not the whole world. After all, some people still think O.J. didn’t really do it.
