Of Commotion and Connection:
Pacquiao vs. Bradley
by Thads Bentulan
thadsbentulan@streetstrategist.net
In my personal opinion, in
committing the amateur mistake of confusing commotion with connection, the
professional judges of the Pacquiao vs. Bradley fight committed the delict of
dispossessing Manny Pacquiao a rightfully deserved 147-lb WBO Welterweight Title
victory over Timothy Bradley on June 9, 2012 in Las Vegas.
In handing Pacquiao his only loss
since 2005, judges C J Ross (115-113) and Duane Ford (115-113) shocked the
entire boxing world with this robbery, ending Pacquiao’s 15 straight wins reign.
The remaining judge Jerry Roth favored Pacquiao (115-113).
The really awkward moments came
when after announcing the controversial split-decision, the video replays
couldn’t even show clips where Bradly’s commotions converted into connections.
On the other hand, from the
entire fight, one can gather many clips showing Pacquiao’s fast and powerful
punches hammering and connecting to Bradley’s head and body.
There are statistics to prove it.
How does Compubox tally it? In summary: Pacquio landed 253 punches while
Bradley landed only 159 punches; an undeniable 94-punch difference. This alone
is the statistic that matters.
Pacquiao threw 751 punches overall
and connected 253, displaying an accuracy of 34%. Bradley threw 839 punches
overall and connected only 159, for an all-in accuracy of only 19%. This is the
evidence to show that Bradley was all about commotion, not connection. Can you
imagine Pacquiao losing the first after connecting 94 punches more than your
opponent?
Then, there is a further
breakdown. Speaking of jabs, Pacquiao threw 258 jabs with 63 connecting, with a
24% accuracy. Bradley released 449 jabs with only 51 connection, with only an
11% accuracy. Based on the jabs breakdown, Pacquiao connected 12 more jabs than
Bradley. This is further evidence that Bradley’s 449 jabs were all commotion,
not connection.
Then, again, there is another
breakdown. This time on the decisive category of power punches. Pacquiao
unleashed a barrage of 493 power punches compared to Bradley’s only 390.
Pacquiao connected 190 of those power punches, some of which were shown on video
replays while waiting for the decision, while Bradley only connected 108
punches. Pacquiao’s accuracy on the very important power punches category is
39% while Bradley’s is a mere 28%.
When you have outboxed,
outperformed, and outwitted your opponent not only in the visual displays but
in the hard statistics as well, how can you lose?
How did the sports networks score
the fight? Pacquiao won in their scorecards. ESPN (118 – 110); Fox Sports (119-100); the UK-based Guardian (117-111); LA Times (117-111); HBO (119-109); Fighthype.com (116-112; Eastside Boxing (118-110); Associated Press (117-111); Yahoo! Sports (117-111); and Las Vegas Review-Journal (117-111).
How did Timothy Bradley himself
score the fight? Bob Arum narrated this story: “After I got into the ring after
the fight, I went over to Bradley and said 'You did very well.' He said, 'I
tried hard, but I couldn't beat the guy.”
Even Bradley himself knew, there
was no way he could have won that fight. Unless with the help of Danny Ocean’s
11.
Will the Nevada State Athletic
Commission initiate an investigation? Today, this delict has tainted the integrity
of boxing.
Whenever people say boxing isn’t
a science, it is usually said as a predicate to justifying a victory robbed in
front of millions of eyes.
Should the millions of boxing
fans disbelieve their eyes and ignore statistics and agree with the decision of
two judges who probably acted out of revenge for having to wait for Pacquiao to
finish the Miami vs. Celtics game?
Is boxing now all about commotion
not connection? If so, bring Jacky Chan into the ring – he has the speed, the
action, and the commotion.
Manny Pacquiao did not lose that
fight. The judges lost it for him. The judges confused commotion with
connection.
-end-
