As is usually the case, I enjoyed my evening at Miami Mike's and took a couple of pictures with the ring card girl. However, the decision in the Pacquiao vs. Bradley fight shocked the boxing world in a big way. Manny Pacquiao clearly won at least nine rounds in that fight, but it was Bradley who would emerged the winner and new WBO welterweight champion by way of split decision with scores of 113-115 and 115-113 (twice). Total corruption, this observer believes. I am going out on a limb and calling this decision the absolute worst and most corrupt decision in the 20 years that I have been following the sport of boxing!I can not blame this outcome on poor judging or inexperienced judges; Duane Ford, Jerry Roth, and CJ Ross have been around for a number of years. They have judged many title fights in Las Vegas. Ladies and gentlemen, there is no way that a challenger, who is relatively unknown to the general public outside of boxing's inner circles, could lose a fight that badly and still win a decision over a superstar like Pacquiao. That does not happen, unless something fishy is taking place behind the scenes. Granted, Pacquiao was missing prior to the fight when the time came to enter the ring.
Perhaps the commission wanted to punish Pacquiao for delaying the start of the bout by giving the fight to Bradley? Did Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum, who had recently told Jim Lampley on HBO's Fight Game that he gets the impression he's promoting Rick Santorum, do something to influence the questionable scoring? Has Pacquiao's star simply grown too big for the promoter to handle? Is Pacquiao's mind in so many different places and agenda so diverse that Arum possibly felt the need to cause what was arguably boxing's biggest robbery in years? Is it a better business decision for Arum to give the younger, undefeated Bradley an unjustifiable victory in advance, just so he can make millions in two fights rather than one? I say two fights because Arum is already planning a rematch for November 10th.
Prior to any rematch, I believe there needs to be an investigation to more or less resolve exactly what happened on Saturday night. Although Las Vegas is indeed a cash-driven tourist attraction, it might be wise to hold the rematch in another city at another Venue. How about the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington Texas where Pacquiao fought both Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito in 2010? That might be doable.
In any case, Mr Mayweather, currently incarcerated, and his team are laughing all the way to the bank in light of this news. If Arum thought Pacquiao should have been granted parity with Mayweather at the negotiating table prior to the Bradley fight, there is absolutely no way that is going to happening now. Whether it was the Nevada State Athletic Commission or Arum who were to blame, the outcome is likely to cost Pacquiao millions of dollars in negotiating leverage for a potential match up with Mayweather in the foreseeable future.
