Another look at Pacquiao vs Bradley

  Happy Father's Day!
    Before going in to Pacquiao and Bradley again, I want to mention the great amateur competition in Albany, NY yesterday. Saturday was a great day of fights with 16 amateur bouts at 1PM and professional boxing later that evening. The crowd was great and we had the pleasure of a visit from the Chairwoman of the NY State Boxing Commission, Melvina Lathan. The referees, Mike Rivest, Rich Murray and Darrell "Clyde" Beattie did a great job.

    This was youth boxing at its best. Great match ups, great effort and I saw some incredible potential. Although I saw several good fights, I thought Brandon Idrogo (Manny's) and Joe Cebolo (Shott's) showed some incredible patience and skill.

Ok, on to Pacquiao and Bradley...

Last week, as I watched the Pacquaio / Bradley match up, but my focus seemed to dissipate due a very busy week.  After the 6th round, I was just "hanging in" to watch the rest of the fight. I was out at a local establishment that showed the fight. There were approximately 200 people.

    The crowd's reaction to the split decision in favor of Bradley was loud and in disagreement with the outcome. I could only imagine what the crowd sounded like in Vegas. Can you imagine the roar of thousands of fight fans disagreeing and booing in unison as Michael Buffer announced the decision?

    When the crowd around me voiced their outrage I wasn't surprised. The HBO commentators did a great job at leading everyone to believe that Pacquiao unanimously won the fight. If you paid attention to Jim Lampley and the commentating crew,  June 9, 2012 on HBO Boxing could have easily been titled the Manny Pacquiao show. The commentary was so one-sided for Pacquiao that I started to wonder if the producer was from Manila.

  First I have to say that judging the fight live is much more difficult than doing it in retrospect. I pressed play on my DVR and let the fight play without use of the slow motion or rewinding. Here is my score.

Rd	Winner	Comment
1	Bradley 10-9	Close, I don't think Pacquiao did enough with the 3 clean punches at the end to win. He didn't do much earlier in the round. Bradley won the first two minutes of the round. Were the 3 punches at the end of the round enough to win it? Commentators said that Paquiao won with those punches. Someone please explain this to me. I am open to learn why this would be acceptable. Bradley was consistently the aggressor, had good defense and I believe controlled most of the round
2	Bradley 20-18	Pattern developing where Pacquiao tries to do more in the last minute of the round. As in round 1, I think Bradley did just enough to win the round. He appeared to have landed more punches earlier in the round.
3	Pacquiao 28-29	Pacquiao did enough to win the round, but I am noticing a considerably slower Pacquiao in regards to footwork. He is not bouncing around and shooting quickly from angles as he did in previous fights. Pacquiao took control of the round. Better ring generalship, Defense was about equal and better cleaner blows.
4	Pacquiao 38-38	Good round. This is when he turned his ankle. Despite the injury, he was tough. Close round.
5	Bradley 48-47	Close
6	Pacquiao 57-57	Pacquiao was busier and won the fight in the last minute of the round
7	Bradley 67-66	Bradley appears to increase in confidence. Looks composed and controls the round being a busier in the first 2 minutes of the round.
8	Pacquiao 76-76	This time, Pacquiao does enough in the last minute of the round, but you have to question whether winning 1 of 3 minutes is enough. Did he win the round. Pac takes the 8th.
9	Bradley 86-85	Bradley is busier and around the last minute of the fight, I remember seeing Bradley throw and possibly landing five puches to Pacquiao's one punch
10	Bradley 96-94	Pacquiao took the round off. Not completely, but Bradley won the round
11	Pacquiao 104-105	Pacquiao was the effective aggressor, defense relatively even. The round wasn't a blowout, but I think Pacquiao did enough to win it.
12	Bradley 115-113	Bradley showed great Rhythm, shows confidence and was busier. Ring General ship, defense and affective aggresiveness.

Decision: Bradley

    When I left, I thought Pacquiao may have won the fight. This could have gone either way because many rounds were close. I found the 2nd, 5th and 7th rounds very close and difficult to judge. This fight could have gone to Pacquiao, Bradley or draw. Oddly enough, based on my scoring Pacquiao did not lead at any point in the fight. Yes, I know that will seem odd. That actually surprises me too, but I can't see that until I review my score card. Scoring is done one round at a time.

   Overall, I thought Pacquiao had the better, more powerful shots, but I am not sure if he landed enough of them cleanly. Bradley fought 3 minutes each round and seemed to be the most active of the two throughout several rounds. Bradley may have edged out Pacquiao in Ring Generalship and also defense.

    Bradley not only blocked punches, but also at times was very elusive with good vertical and horizontal movement. Pacquiao seemed to be slower than usual. His punches had pop, but his legs seemed to be heavy. Based on his physique, gaining almost no weight after weigh-in and his decreased activity, I wonder if he trained hard enough or if he is simply getting older. Either way, I am sure he will rev up for the rematch.

   Two of the judges' scorecard disagree with mine in the 1st round, one disagrees in the 2nd, and one disagrees in the 5th. I almost disagreed with all of them in the 7th. I gave the 7th to Bradley, but I think it could have gone either way.

    If you believe that the fight was not close. I challenge you to review these six rounds.
Round 1: Did Pacquiao win the round with three punches at the end of the round? I did not think so.
Round 5: Close round, judge 3 minutes of the round, look at defense and punches that actually land
Round 7: Close, all judges gave the round to Bradley
Round 9: Keep an eye on Bradley. He's busier. Check out his defense and Ring Generalship.
Round 10: Pacquiao slowed down this round
Round 12: Bradley edged out this round. He was in rhythm, looked confident and landing better

   Some people believe that Bradley did not do enough to beat the champ. To some people Pacquiao clearly won, some agree and some say it could have been a draw. The only one that I do not agree with is that Pacquiao clearly won the fight. The margin was too small. In my assessment, the judges did a fine job.

What do you think? Did Pacquiao clearly win the six rounds that I have listed above? If you believe Pacquiao clearly won, please explain why.