In what could be the biggest fraud in boxing’s rich history, Timothy Bradley (29-0) stayed undefeated by winning a split-decision over favorite Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2).
I watched the entire fight and even tweeted that it was boring because Pacquiao was dominating him in every round. The only round that I had Bradley winning was the 10th. HBO’s Harold Lederman had nearly the same scorecard as me.
If Bradley won the fight, why did everyone on Twitter go berserk when he was announced as the winner? Is this the end of boxing?
The fight started with controversy and ended with even more. I am not a boxing expert, but I have watched nearly every major boxing event over the last 20 years. I know enough to tell when a boxer is getting blown out.
Pacquiao went missing after the Miami Heat beat the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. He wasn’t in his locker room or with his trainers. He appeared shortly before the national anthems and had to quickly warm up during both of the songs.
Pacquiao started the fight out like he was 100% prepared. He spent each round resting for the first two minutes and then using all of his energy on a flurry of punches given in the last minute. They took a toll on Bradley and even made him twist his ankle in the second round. By the 8th round, Bradley walked to the corner with his head down low because he knew he was losing. Pacquiao was playing with him for most of the fight. He was smiling and even looked over at Jim Lampley and Max Kellerman and winked during a round. Pacquiao could have ended the fight early, but he looked like he was having too much fun.
Ringside judges Duane Ford and C.J. Ross score the fight 115-113 for Bradley. Judge Jerry Roth gives it 115-113 to Pacquiao.
Pacquiao had a controversial decision in his last fight against Juan Manuel Marquez. Kellerman insinuated that the Nevada Boxing Commission wasn’t going to give him another decision if his fight with Bradley was close.
Here’s a video of a segment they taped on HBO prior to the fight.
This was the worst decision I have witnessed since George Foreman defended his title against Axel Schulz in 1995. Foreman looked old and had a goose egg above his eye the size of a tennis ball. Schulz out-boxed the champ, but the judges didn’t see it that way.
Conspiracy theorists will say that since Floyd Mayweather is in jail for the next six months, boxing needed a big fight. If Pacquiao lost against Bradley, it would force them to have a rematch (rumored to be November 10th). The fight will draw big pay-per-view numbers because of the controversy, but I will not buy it.
If you love the sport of boxing, you should boycott the Pacquiao/Bradley rematch. It isn’t fair to the fans to have such a joke of a decision after shelling out money to watch it.
Who is with me?
