I thought Pacquiao edged out the win in last nights fight against Tim Bradley, but like the judges, I thought it was close. From my observation, Bradley is not getting enough credit for his defense. Pacquiao threw more punches, but Bradley blocked many punches. The outcome of the fight is a good reason to look at the fight again with frequent use of the slow-mo button. Those little, ring giants are fast!
I had the score close through 6 and stopped tracking after that. I will admit that my focus was affected by the late start. However, I did not agree with the ringside commentary. The HBO announcers' comments were off. Jim Lampley was calling clean shots for Pacquiao that were blocked. And much respect for his experience, but Harold Lederman seems to be off consistently. Combined with Lederman' scoring, the commentary on HBO is usually misleading.
Again, i thought Pacquiao won, but as pro judge Tom Schreck says, "It is different when you are there and can see and hear the punches". I am going to give it another look. Regardless of the outcome, you have to consider who stands to benefit from this fight.
Where Pacquiao, Bradley, Bob Arum and HBO including the commentators stand to gain a huge payday for the rematch on November 10th, the judges of this fight do not stand to gain anything at all. Unless you think they enjoy ridicule and being flagged for a controversial decision by networks and promoters. I enjoy listening to Jim Lampley and Max Kellerman, but if you watch enough fights you can feel them going with momentum. Max is probably the least guilty of this.
The fact is that the fight was close and three professional judges were within one round of giving Timothy Bradley a unanimous decision. It is hard to argue with that kind of consistency. I am looking forward to watching this fight again.
Official scorecard for your convenience. What is your take on the decision?
nice post Manny.. but for me, Pacman wins the fight even if bradley has more blocks..s
ReplyDeleteIt depends on how many more blocks :) Who had the most clean effective punches, ring generalship and defense for each round and throughout the entire fight? Can you answer that with certainty? I can't. The thing that makes me wonder the most about the outcome is that three pro judges, just about, saw it the same way. Thanks for the reply, Jeff.
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