You can read some of my previous boxing posts and get a clear sense that I am not a Manny Pacquaio fan.
So I do not cry over his loss to Timothy Bradley on June 9, 2012.
That loss was due to some poor officiating, in fact some completely inept officiating.
A SacBee column today has this:
“After Timothy Bradley’s split-decision victory over Manny Pacquiaoon Saturday, an old friend posted a comment on my Facebook page: “Believing in boxing is like believing in the Tooth Fairy.”
It was clearly Pacquaios win. He hit Bradley more often, he hit Bradley harder, he on more rounds. He coasted a little in late rounds and left the fight up to the judges. This is always a bad decision even when you win. Because you can easily have a fight that you won slip right through your gloves.
I had the Pac-Man ahead in eight of the twelve rounds.
The HBO ringside expert had Pacquaio winning the fight in 11 of the 12 rounds. He had Bradley winning just one round, and yet…
The Associated Press had Pacquaio winning the bout by a score of 117-111. And yet…
As bad as the officiating and the decision was in this fight, it was not the worst that I have seen.
But the decision in this fight was so bad that an Irish betting site refunded the bets as what they have called a “justice payout.” Never have I seen that happen.
Paddy Power, Ireland’s largest telephone betting service, issued this statement on its blog on Sunday:
It was a result that stunned the world, even by modern professional boxing standards.
Last night in Las Vegas the brilliant Filipino Manny Pacquiao lost his WBO welterweight belt to Timothy Bradley in a controversial split-decision defeat.
With that Paddy Power has rolled out one of our famous Justice Payouts. If you had placed a bet on Manny to win in a pre-fight outright or on points, that money is now back in your account. We Hear You!
Even Floyd Mayweather had things to say about the decision telling the judges to “find a new job’. But he also reminded people that is was last November when Juan Manuel Marquez had a win stolen from him and given to Pacquaio by the judges.
“I feel like Pacquiao won the fight but I am not going to sugarcoat nothing. The last fight belonged to Marquez,” Mayweather said while referring to Pacquiao’s majority decision win over Juan Manuel Marquez this past November. “This one belonged to Pacquiao. I’m calling it like it is,” Mayweather continued.
Boxers are always warned not to leave things up to the men who sit ringside and judge things round to round. Anything short of a knockout can be judged either way. And maybe this was just payback.
But he did not knock Bradley out. He never even knocked Bradley down.
Will there be a rematch? Apparently in November 2012.
Will both men make a lot of money in the rematch??
Will Pacquaio win the rematch???
Will some people claim that boxing is faked?