The boxing world was shunned Saturday evening (June 9) when Manny Pacquaio’s title fight at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand ended with his opponent Timothy Bradley walking away with a shocking split decision victory.
At the end of 12 rounds, which HBO commentators even expected Pac-Man to win easily, Bradley came out on top on two judges’ scorecards who both called the fight 115-113, giving him the split decision. When it was read, the MGM was filled with loud boos.
For those who watched the fight, it was clear Bradley never gave up, but he was unable to really hurt the Filipino boxing superstar or do any real damage. It seemed as though Pac-Man landed the harder and cleaner punches throughout the evening, seemingly controlling the fight with his left hand. A few times that left staggered Bradley, who was unable to defend it all night, but that was never the case vice verse.
Bradley injured his foot early in the fight, but never let it bother him. He fought back the entire time, but was it enough? To the three judges: Yes. To many fans: No.
Thunderous boos from the crowd filled the MGM after the decision was read, while angry comments littered our Twitter timeline.
“REMATCH. #smh,” rapper Waka Flocka Flame tweeted (@WakaFlockaBSM), later adding the hashtag “#RIPBoxing.”
“Whhaaaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttttttttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!” wrote Xzibit (@Xzibit) shortly after hearing the decision. “Oh man. No more boxing for me. Dana white gets my money from here on out. What. The. F&%$. Was. That???????????”
Some reactions went as far as to call the decision “a fix”, while others said they will give up on the sport altogether and solely watch the UFC.
UFC President Dana White had this to say after the fight (@DanaWhite): “Nevada state athletic commission at its finest!!! Youve for to be f*&$(*g kidding me!! that is disgusting Nevada state athletic commission!! Worst athletic commission in the country!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Well-known boxing trainer and commentator Teddy Atlas tweeted that “boxing is a corrupt sport.”
After the fight, CompuBox numbers had Manny on top, showing him landing 253 out of 751 total punches with 190 power shots, while Bradley landed just 159 of 839 with 108 power punches.
Timothy Bradley remained undefeated, and improved to 29-0 with 12 knockouts. Pacquiao’s record fell to 54-4-2.
“I did my best but my best wasn’t good enough,” Pacquiao said after the fight. When asked during the in-ring interview if he thought he won the fight he said, “Absolutely, yes.”
Despite his opinion, Pac-Man remained humble, saying he respects the judges’ decision. “I respect [Bradley], that’s the decision. We got to respect the officials,” he said.
After the fight, both men talked of an immediately rematch for November. As a boxing fan, would you watch it?
As far as how this affects the possible superfight between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, that remains to be seen.
