Johnston on boxing: Pacquiao-Bradley fallout

Everything in the boxing ring on Saturday between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley was a beautiful sport. Everything else was a dirty business.

In what is being touted as one of the worst decisions in boxing history, Bradley became the new WBO welterweight (147-pound) champion by winning a split decision over the future Hall of Famer Pacquiao.

The 12-round championship bout was scored 115-113 — which is seven rounds to five — by all three judges. Duane Ford and C.J. Ross awarded Bradley the decision while Jerry Roth gave it to Pacquiao.

However the fight appeared to be clearly controlled by Pacquiao and even a 115-113 score for him seemed fishy.

The now-former champ outpunched his younger opponent in 10 of 12 rounds and Compubox recorded Pacquiao landing 253 total punches, while Bradley connected on 159. In terms of power shots, Pacquiao out landed Bradley 190 to 108. Not to mention the Filipino was the far more accurate striker, throwing 751 punches compared to Bradley’s 839.

The outcome had nearly all who watched the fight crying foul.

Gambling is a big part of boxing and throughout the history of the sport fighters have taken dives and judges have taken bribes. Bradley was a 4-1 underdog and there was a lot of money to be had for anyone who bet on the Cathedral City, Calif., native.

“Sometimes scorers of fights are incompetent. Sometimes they are more than incompetent; they are corrupt,” said former fighter, trainer and current analyst Teddy Atlas after the fight.

Listen to Teddy Atlas discuss Timothy Bradley’s controversial win over Manny Pacquiao on Tim & Sid on Sportsnet 590 The Fan

For now there’s no proof of any skullduggery but something just doesn’t smell right.

After the fight, many suggested the fix was in and some pointed the finger at Bob Arum, founder and CEO of Top Rank, a company that promotes both Pacquiao and Bradley.

However, Arum was quick to point out it was one of the worst decisions he’s seen in all his years involved in the sport.

An immediate rematch seems like the most likely solution — there was even a clause in the fight contract that stated if Pacquiao lost a rematch would take place on Nov. 10 — but Arum said there will be no rematch until Nevada’s attorney general Catherine Cortez Masto investigates how the judges came to their conclusion.

“I want to investigate whether there was any undue influence, whether the (Nevada State Athletic Commission) gave any particular instruction and how they came to this conclusion,” Arum said at the post-fight press conference.

Arum insisted there must have been a mistake that resulted in the decision, and added he did not believe it had to do with any form of corruption.

“The whole sport is in an uproar. People are going crazy … If this was a subjective view that each of (the judges) honestly held, okay. I would still disagree, but then we’re off the hook in terms of there being no conspiracy. But there needs to be an independent investigation because it strains credulity that an event everybody saw as so one-sided one way all three judges saw it as close. It strains credulity.”

A decision like this one is one of the many things currently soiling the sweet science’s reputation. It certainly doesn’t bode well for the future of the sport when the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter in the United States is #RIPboxing, which was the case for a time on Saturday night.

Boxing great Oscar De La Hoya said the decision brought back memories of his controversial majority decision loss to Felix Trinidad back in 1999.

Former undisputed heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis also voiced his displeasure and summed up the views of many fans and athletes that watched the fight.

In all likelihood the result was less to do with cheating and more to do with problems in the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), which is no stranger to criticism.

This embarrassing decision had many fight fans saying it was a good night for mixed martial arts and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

UFC president Dana White, a lifelong boxing fan and someone who deals with the NSAC often, tweeted after the fight: “Nevada State Athletic Commission at its finest!!! You’ve (got) to be (expletive) kidding me!! That is disgusting Nevada State Athletic Commission!! … Worst athletic commission in the country!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Note all the exclamation marks. He certainly meant what he tweeted.

Judging in MMA is not much better and is always a topic of concern among those in the sport. In fact, at a UFC event Friday there were several questionable scores. In a completely one-sided fight where Mike Pierce clearly won all three five-minute rounds, one judge gave all three rounds to the losing fighter, Carlos Eduardo Rocha. At least there, the “right” fighters did end up with their hands raised.

In the grand scheme, it speaks to the ineptitude of athletic commissions, not the sports of boxing or MMA.

The saddest part of all the controversy is it overshadowed what was a rather exciting fight.

Pacquiao was on point, agile, explosive and elusive, while Bradley, who injured his foot and rolled his ankle early, was steadfast in his efforts to push the pace on Pac-Man. Bradley likely won’t gain any fans for being the benefactor of this questionable win, but you can’t blame him for all this controversy.

Another thing to consider is the fact this hurts the ever-dwindling chances of a superfight between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Many think a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight is the only thing that can save the sport at this point in time.

All in all what could have been a great night in the squared circle turned out to be more or less a train wreck.

When business, politics, money or inept athletic commissions interfere with the integrity of a sport, something needs to change.

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