In what most observers are calling a highly questionable if not indefensible decision by judges in Nevada, Timothy Bradley won a split decision victory over Manny Pacquiao Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Bradley won …
In what most observers are calling a highly questionable if not indefensible decision by judges in Nevada, Timothy Bradley won a split decision victory over Manny Pacquiao Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Bradley won 115-113 on two scorecards. Pacquiao took 115-113 on only one judge’s ledger. MMA Fighting scored the bout 117-111 in favor of Pacquiao. The victory makes Bradley the new WBO welterweight champion.
Pacquiao appeared to be en route to a clear unanimous decision win. According to the punching statistics shown in the HBO pay-per-view broadcast, Pacquiao landed 190 of 493 power punches to Bradley’s 108 of 390. In terms of overall punches, Pacquiao also outlanded Bradley: 253 of 751 for Pacquiao, 159 of 839 for Bradley.
Bradley fought more competitive rounds later in the fight, but was battered early with hard punches. Bradley was never out of the bout, but was rocked several times and controlled by Pacquiao’s superior punching power.
As part of the contractual terms in the signing of tonight’s bout, a Bradley victory meant Pacquiao would earn an automatic rematch November 10th of this year.
“It’s part of the game,” Pacquiao told HBO commentator Max Kellerman after the decision was announced. “I accept that whole-heartedly. I did my best, but my best wasn’t good enough.” Pacquiao did state, however, he believed he won the fight.
MMA Fighting has a Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley live blog for round-by-round updates for one of the top boxing fights of the year.The main event will start a little after 11:30 p.m. ET. Check out our Pacquiao vs. Bradley res…
MMA Fighting has a Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley live blog for round-by-round updates for one of the top boxing fights of the year.
The main event will start a little after 11:30 p.m. ET. Check out our Pacquiao vs. Bradley results page to find out what happened on the undercard.
Check out the main event live blog below.
Round 1: Pacquiao opens southpaw while Bradley is orthodox. Pacquiao goes to the body after jabbing and lands. Bradley triples up on the jab and lands a right partially through the gloves. Pacquiao drives a straight right upstairs, but Bradley blocks it completely. Bradley lands a hard right and left to the body. Pacquiao drives two hard straight lefts at the end, both the best punches of the round.
MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Pacquiao
Round 2: Pacquiao starts the round with another straight left, but Bradley responds with a right of his own. Pacquiao’s already got Bradley reacting, but he does land a right. Pacquiao fires a left and misses as Bradley as his left hanging low. The fighters exchange straight punches. Close round.
MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Pacquiao, 20-18 thus far
Round 3: Pacquiao again lands a straight left timing off the right, but Bradley’s still in Pacquiao’s face. And another straight left. Bradley curls a right hook to the body. Pacquiao again drives a left to Bradley’s jaw. Good right by Bradley, but he pays for it with another left from Pacquiao.
MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Pacquiao, 30-27 thus far
Round 4: Pacquiao eats a right hook to the body, but it’s not super heavy. They’re brawling in close quarters and trading shots. Pacquiao lands a right hook. Referee warns Bradley to get his punches up. Pacquiao seems really lose now and is landing hard. Bradley looks to be hurt and is holding on after Pacquiao pours it on.
MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Pacquiao, 40-36 thus far
Round 5: Bradley slowing down a lot now and Pacquiao seems to be looking for a particular kind of shot. Bradley backs Pacquiao into a corner, but a four-punch combination allows him to work his way out. Pacquiao lands a huge left hand and again Bradley seems hurt, but manages to hang on until the end of the round.
MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Pacquiao, 50-45 thus far
Round 6: Pacquiao jabbing and looking to open Bradley up, but so far he’s playing coy. Bradley lands a bit of a right hook. Pacquiao, however, returns fire and lands two hard left hands. Now he’s got Bradley against the ropes and is trying to bomb on him. Pacquiao lands a left between the gloves.
MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Pacquiao, 60-54 thus far
Round 7: Bradley opens the round driving a couple of hooks to Pacquiao’s ribs, but they don’t phase him at all. Pacquiao now landing a hard left to the Bradley’s midsection. Another left straight from Pacquiao. Pacquiao sticking and moving and while Bradley is trying it’s just not working. Bradley gets a little rocked again with a left.
MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Pacquiao, 70-63 thus far
Round 8: Bradley again lands two nice hard right hooks. Near headbutt there and Pacquiao lands a right and now a left again. Lots of clinches and lots of breaks and this should be another round for Pacquiao even if the Filipino is often off balance chasing punches at the end of combinations.
MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Pacquiao, 80-72 thus far
Round 9: Bradley opens every round with hooks to the body. Pacquiao tries to land a straight left, but it’s blocked. Bradley slips dodging a punch and the crowd roars, but nothing happened. Fighters now trading hard hooks, but Pacquiao’s punches seem to be a lot harder. Nice right by Bradley lands and then a left. Pacquiao drives a left hand through Bradley’s defense.
MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Bradley, 89-82 thus far
Round 10: Pacquiao covering up as Bradley is a little more active than usual. Bradley landing punches here and there to chants of his name in the arena. Pacquiao not doing much at all this round. Nothing dominant for Bradley, but Pacquiao’s output in this frame has been slow.
MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Bradley, 98-92 thus far
Round 11: Both fighters trading jabs and now Bradley pressing Pacquiao against the ropes, but can’t get anything from it. Pacquiao lands a nice left straight. Hard right hook by Pacquiao and another near headbutt. Both fighters trade right hooks.
MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Pacquiao, 108-101 thus far
Round 12: Nice sneaky short left over the top for Bradley. And then a good right to the body for the challenger. Hard but short right over the top from Pacquiao. Pacquiao eats an uppercut as Bradley is trying to finish strong. Left hand for Pacquiao finds the mark as the fight ends.
MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 Bradley, 117-111 overall
Strangely, Timothy Bradley defeats Manny Pacquiao by split decision (115-113 B, 115-113 P, 115-113 B)
MMA Fighting has live results of of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley fight card in Las Vegas on Saturday night.When the main event begins, around 11:30 p.m. ET, check out our Pacquaio vs. Bradley live blog for live round-by-…
MMA Fighting has live results of of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley fight card in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
It’s official. Both Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley have weighed in under the welterweight limit are set to go in tomorrow’s fight.
Pacquiao was the first to step on the scale of the two boxers. The eight-division champion fr…
It’s official. Both Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley have weighed in under the welterweight limit are set to go in tomorrow’s fight.
Pacquiao was the first to step on the scale of the two boxers. The eight-division champion from the Philippines weighed in at 147 pounds, the limit for a welterweight bout. Bradley, who typically fights at light welterweight, pushed the scales today at 146 pounds. As he typically does, Bradley looked to be in phenomenal shape.
When asked by boxing analyst Max Kellerman how he beats a fighter like Bradley, Pacquiao only responded, “we’ll see tomorrow.” Bradley, who seemed intensely serious at the weigh-ins, added he’s “ready for war” and that he’s “set out to prove every body wrong.”
Bradley enters this bout as a nearly 5 to 1 underdog according to most oddsmakers.
Tomorrow’s fight is for Pacquiao’s WBO welterweight title and will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Pacquiao enters this bout with a record of 54-3-2 with 38 knockouts. Bradley is 28-0-0 (1 no-contest) with 12 knockouts in his career.
I personally believe this card should be combined with the next UFC on FX event. There’s good talent at tomorrow’s fights, but enough to carry ratings on Friday night? Maybe. Combining tomorrow’s talent with next week’s top fights…
I personally believe this card should be combined with the next UFC on FX event. There’s good talent at tomorrow’s fights, but enough to carry ratings on Friday night? Maybe. Combining tomorrow’s talent with next week’s top fights, though, and then weeding out the less important bouts would give fans a serious FX card worth destination viewing. But I digress.
The most important consideration heading into tomorrow’s main event is who Joseph Benavidez is going to fight for the inaugural UFC flyweight title. I tend to think it won’t matter as Benavidez will beat whoever emerges from the victor, but it’s nevertheless a fight I’ll want to see.
Who will become the other top contender to the flyweight throne? I try to answer that question and more with my predictions below.
Let’s just be clear about something: McCall arguably won the first fight against Johnson. That’s especially true as the fight went late. The question we have to ask ourselves is that do we have a compelling reason to think they’ll be a different outcome? Did or could something have happened in three months to make us believe the outcome will be different this time? I have a hard time seeing it. Johnson’s striking is good, but it’s hesitant against better wrestlers. And that’s exactly what McCall is. When Johnson’s striking fails him, he resorts to takedowns and top control. But not only is McCall better in several dimensions of the wrestling game – takedowns, counters, etc – he’s better as a submission grappler maintaining top control. Short of a fairly drastic change in game plan or some unknown injury changing how these two fight, I expect a repeat performance.
A Silva win here would be a rather significant statement. It’s not that Brenneman is a top tier welterweight, but he does posses the kind of indefatigable, smothering wrestling style that’s difficult to contend with. Should an explosive striker with finishing instincts demonstrate the wherewithal to thwart what should be takedown attempt after takedown attempt from ‘The Spaniard’, we’ll have ourselves someone to watch. Until that happens, though, I have to side with the known commodity.
This is a fight Pyle should not lose if he fights making smart, prudent decisions. He has the boxing skill to work from the outside and the takedowns and top control to keep Neer from doing a whole heck of a lot. Neer, though, can sucker better fighters into forgetting or neglecting their fight IQ. Pyle can and should win this fight, but the only way to do that is to have a clear game plan in mind and not let Neer’s forward movement, clinch striking and taunts to derail him.
It’s hard to believe someone as talented as Wineland is facing three consecutive losses under the Zuffa banner, but it’s true. And unfortunately, I think it’s the fate he’s going to suffer. Wineland is defensively hard to score against, but doesn’t easily transition from offense to defense or vice versa. Jorgensen is just a bit more adept at it and that’ll make the difference. Wineland is hard to hurt and hard to score on, but in a game with Jorgensen where being able to scramble, strike, cover up, stop a takedown, execute a single leg, clinch, clinch break all quickly, effectively and fluidly, he won’t be able to keep up as the rounds pass by.
I can honestly say I’m a bit surprised former UFC lightweight and welterweight B.J. Penn came out of retirement. I thought nothing would interest him while time passed long enough for the window on the whole idea to close altogeth…
I can honestly say I’m a bit surprised former UFC lightweight and welterweight B.J. Penn came out of retirement. I thought nothing would interest him while time passed long enough for the window on the whole idea to close altogether. And frankly, I’m a little worried for him. A prime Penn would probably put a fairly sizable beating on a prime MacDonald, but that’s not the Penn who’ll enter the cage presumably around UFC 152. Between losing the lust for training as well as the wee bit of blood thirst he once possessed, I’m worried that his initial desire to leave the game will have been improperly ignored.
Join me at 1 p.m. ET to talk about the greatest lighter weight fighter returning to the game. We can also discuss Friday’s UFC on FX 3, Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley, the USA Wrestling Beat the Streets event in New York City tomorrow (I’ll be attending), Anderson Silva and Jon Fitch documentaries or whatever is on your mind.
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