Photo: Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley II Poster Made 2 Weeks Before 1st Fight

On Saturday night, when two completely inept judges handed Timothy Bradley a victory over Manny Pacquiao, fans witnessed the most despicable, horrible decision in modern boxing history. Regardless of whether you love or hate Pacquiao, there should be no debate about what transpired – the Filipino champion was absolutely, positively robbed.

Here are the facts: according to CompuBox, Pacquiao landed 253 of his 751 punches, Bradley landed 159 of his 839 punches. Pacquiao landed 190 power punches, Bradley landed 108 power punches. Pacquiao landed more punches than Bradley in 10 rounds, Bradley landed more punches than Pacquiao in two rounds.

After the match, Bradley’s own manager told Bob Arum that he had Pacquiao winning eight of the 12 rounds.

And yet, despite the fact that Pacquiao was consistently the better fighter throughout, even Jerry Roth (the judge who scored the win to him) only had him winning 115-113. How could the margin have possibly been that close given the obvious talent disparity we saw on display for 12 rounds?

There is no rational explanation for what happened. None.

Today, Jason Lisk over at The Big Lead pointed out something very interesting – Bradley showed off posters of a Pacquiao vs. Bradley II showdown on Twitter two weeks ago. Sure, that could have just been a part of his ultra-braggadocios act heading into last night’s festivities…or it could be something more.

Yup, tickets for the next fight are probably already printed and ready to go.

The reality is, Pacquiao losing last night was great for everyone. It was great for boxing. It was great for Top Rank. And it was really, really great for Arum.

Don’t buy the hype – nobody thought boxing was legitimate anyway. This latest horrendous decision won’t sully the sport’s image in anyone’s eyes because, really, the Sweet Science was tainted by corruptness and illegitimacy a long time ago. It’s also great for Top Rank and Arum, obviously, because both Bradley and Pacquiao are under the Top Rank umbrella.

The only loser here is Pacquiao. And the fans, of course. But boxing stopped caring about the fans a long time ago, so that doesn’t even really count.

(Kudos The Big Lead)

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