Only in boxing could one of it's biggest stars win 11 of 12 rounds and lose the fight. But that's what happened...
...Saturday night in Las Vegas when two judges ridiculously gave Timothy Bradley a fixed decision victory.
Aren’t you glad you dropped $60 bucks for a boxing travesty Saturday night? The split-decision victory for Timothy Bradley (29-0 12 KO’s) over a dejected and shocked Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2 38 KO’s) was exactly what Bob Arum (who had the fight 118-110 Pacquiao) called it… A death knell for the “sport” of boxing. According to HBO’s Harold Lederman, Pacquiao won 11 of the 12 rounds. Furthermore, Pac-Man landed more punches than Bradley in 10 of the 12 rounds. Pacquiao landed 253 of 751 punches (34 percent), while Bradley landed 159 of 839 (19 percent). Pacquiao also landed 82 more power shots (190-108).
But yeah, boxing is legitimate and can be trusted. Totally. What a fucking circus. Jim Lampley, who has been covering fights since I started watching this corrupt “sport” as a kid called it the single worst decision he’s ever seen. That’s a bold statement when you consider how many egregious decisions there have been over the years.
And did you hear, there was a ton of late money on Bradley Saturday afternoon. Haralabos Voulgaris tweeted that Pac-Man was -432 at 2pm and it closed -397. Hmm… I wonder how many people besides CJ Ross and Duane Ford (the two judges that had the “fight” for Bradley) were in on this fix? And how were they so indifferent or not watching when Pacquiao sent Bradley crashing into the ropes in the 5th round? You’d think they dipped off to get a drink and missed that part of this scripted charade.
That, or perhaps they thought Bradley’s haymakers were actually connecting to Pacquiao’s head instead of his arms & gloves? Ooh, maybe they were rewarding Bradley for displaying a world class chin? You seriously can’t make this shit up, and I’m not a Pacquiao guy at all. I wanted Bradley, but this is on the Montreal Screwjob level of fixed atrocities.
As a kid, I would watch boxing on Saturday afternoons with my father, in addition to all of the big Tyson fights. It was an event no matter who was fighting. I was drawn to the sport because of the hype and the fact that two guys are in a ring beating the hell out of each other. It was great theater, and became one of my favorite sports. But what has transpired far too often the last several years has killed my love for this glorified Vegas show.
When Vince McMahon is trending on Twitter in the immediate aftermath of a supposed big fight, you know there’s an issue. People still bust my balls for watching the WWE, but what is different about Vince’s brand of entertainment and this obvious screwjob? At least when fans leave one of Vince’s events, they go home happy and know what they’re paying for. Boxing is dirtier than the strippers that parade through most of the Vegas hotels on nights like Saturday.
By the way, if Vince and the WWE don’t capitalize on this and come up with a crooked ref angle, I’ll give up all hope on their creative writing team.
This is more than Pacquiao’s 15 fight winning streak coming to an end or the probability that a Manny-Mayweather fight will never occur, it’s about a sport dying in front of our eyes. That’s what we witnessed on Saturday night. Even if Manny destroys Bradley in a rematch and eventually fights Floyd, who will genuinely take any of it seriously? There’s no reason for us to and boxing mouthpieces like Arum knows it.
Now, even more NBA-like conspiracies will morph over into a sport that most fans were convinced was rigged to begin with. The judges and who was in on the fix will be as big of a part of fights as the two combatants. It’s a disaster and a real shame to anyone who has loved the fight game. On a night when Vinny Mac was trending worldwide, it’s not hard to forget one if his legendary phrases… “It’s all about the monaaaaaay!” Yes it is, Vince. And speaking of money, Ace Rothstein famously once said… “We’re the only winners, the players don’t stand a chance.” On Saturday night in Vegas, nobody won. And that’s the biggest debacle of all.
@Louie_Ruffolo8
