Even by the standards of boxing, the decision to award Timothy Bradley the win over Manny Pacquiao a fortnight ago was a shocker. So the WBO had a second look.
The Filipino icon may be ever so slightly on the slide but he dominated the American challenger for his WBO Welterweight title and clearly won the majority of the 12 rounds in Las Vegas.
However, when the referee went to the judges two of them scored the fight 115-113 to Bradley, with the third judge scoring the fight 115-113 to Pacquiao. The decision went down badly in the MGM Grand on the night of the fight and since then conspiracy theories have abounded regarding the reasons for the decision, mostly revolving around money and building some hype for a rematch between the two later in the year.
Anyway, to their credit the WBO have had the fight re-assessed, using five judges this time. The result? 115-111, 116-112, 117-111 117-111 and 118-110 – all in favour of Pac-Man. Those sort of numbers tally with what most observers and reporters recorded on the night but what does this new scoring mean?
Sadly very little. The result on the night still stands and while the Nevada Athletic Commission has the power to reverse the decision, they don’t seem minded to do so.
As for Pacquiao, he didn’t seem too bothered, saying to ESPN: “My supporters shouldn’t worry. We’re going to get that title.”
Roll on the rematch then.
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