Sunday, June 10, 2012

Manny Pacquiao vs Tim Bradley...... Another Controversy!


Photo Courtesy of John Bardelli



By Randy De La O

The Associated Press
I thought Tim Bradley was going to win the fight last night. My reasons were sound and I wasn't picking one fighter over the other for personal reasons, or likes or dislikes. It didn't quite happen the way I thought it would. Officially Bradley won the fight but they gave the fight to the wrong guy. Pacquiao should have won that fight. At best, he lost one round. Bradley was never seriously hurt but he was out worked by Pacquiao. We've seen it before. it's not the first time this has happened but it is one of the most blatant. Still, it was hard for Manny to complain too much since he has been the recipient of at least three gift decisions (in my opinion).

It's not enough to say "Well, that's boxing". That's not boxing! There needs to be a complete overhaul of the judging system and the judges. Someone should be tarred and feathered or worse.

Bradley's win probably does more harm than good for him on a personal level. Had he lost the fight we would have been focusing on his big heart and willingness to keep fighting despite having hurt his ankles (or feet) early in the fight. Instead his reputation took a hit.

Still, both fighters showed a lot of class last night. Though he did express himself, Manny never whined about what has to be one of the worst decisions in recent boxing history and we should applaud Bradley's integrity in not feeling satisfied with the win. He offered, with out being asked, a rematch for Pacquiao. and that says a lot about his character. Bradley has proven himself to be a true ring warrior.

But let's keep things in perspective. it was not a great fight. It was a good fight and nothing more. Still, the fight belonged to Pacquiao and I hate to see this type of ending to a fight..

Boxing is still the greatest sport of all. It will survive this bad decision and somewhere out there is a fighter training away ready to become the next Pacquiao, De La Hoya, Duran, Hagler, Chavez, Leonard or Ali. That's boxing!

6 comments:

ScottG said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ScottG said...

Although the overwelming sentiment is that Pacqiao should have won the fight, He didnt (officially). This fight will not hurt his or Bradleys reputations because they have no control over what the judges may or may not decide. It wasnt a barn burner or fight of the year by any means but both fighters gave a good honest performance. In the long run it may help Manny by lighting that spark that many of us thought to be dimming just a little bit to get his revenge on the judges in the rematch. I believe it also helped Bradley by putting his name on the radar brighter than it was to the more casual boxing fan. Also, in the rematch he has already faced the lion and didnt get eaten, so he should step his game up as well. I look foward to the rematch and I think interest will be even higher next time giving a boost the the sport.

ScottG said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Randy De La O said...

Good perspective Scott! You're right, he didn't get eaten!

brian said...

If this isn't overturned,they realy need to to consider ending the sport..or returning tio the no decision era..or cease having big fights in Vegas,where I always expect weird decisions...not to be a broken record but,in Pacquaio'z questionable wins over Marquez-Marquez would have to admit that their fights were more competitive than this;this fight was more one-sided than probably %99 of the decision wins I've seen.

Randy De La O said...

Yeah, the Pacquiao v Marquez was much closer than this fight was. The Pacquiao v Marquez fight was at least debatable. Pacquiao v Bradley isn't even debatable. Shameful.

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