Tim Bradley won the biggest fight of his career last night, when he was awarded a split decision against Manny Pacquiao during their main event fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Apparently, he fought most of the fight extremely banged up, a…
Tim Bradley won the biggest fight of his career last night, when he was awarded a split decision against Manny Pacquiao during their main event fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Apparently, he fought most of the fight extremely banged up, and his performance may have…suffered? Bradley showed up in a wheelchair during the post-fight press conference, and it was reported he fought on two injured ankles.
Instead, it looks like he fought on two bad feet.
Bradley’s manager, Cameron Dunkin, said the fighter has a left foot fracture, with his right foot also enduring a lot of swelling during the fight. Bradley reportedly suffered the fracture in the second round, and his right foot was injured during the fifth round.
The credibility of boxing, already seen as a dying sport among MMA enthusiasts, crashed and burned when the judges’ scorecards were read last night: 115-113, 113-115 and 115-113.
A potential rematch is likely on November 10, with Pacquiao already expected to come out more aggressively in the fight.
Meanwhile, the superfight between Floyd Mayweather and Pacquiao could still be arranged. But that admittedly lost significant appeal after last night’s decision.
The outrage and fallout from the decision was felt in both boxing and MMA, but other sports stars and celebrities sounded off about the controversial decision. As pointed out by Matthew Roth, the scoring controversy has no effect on MMA, even though our beloved sport continues to deal with downright wrong judging issues.
One of the worst things about boxing is the unpredictability of the human condition.
Such as when that human condition allows individuals called ‘judges’ to score a fight.
This should not be difficult. For those of us who remember when schoolyard fights took place between two individuals with fists and not weapons, it was fairly easy to tell who won the fight. The kid who left crying or had the bloody nose lost the fight. The kid who threw more punches and hurt his opponent won.
The same holds true in professional boxing. You are supposed to score each round after it is completed and then you add up the totals after 12 rounds. The fighter who wins the most rounds and therefore has the most scoring points is supposed to win the fight.
That is not what happened last night in Las Vegas when Manny Pacquiao seemingly dominated challenger Tim Bradley in their welterweight championship fight. You could easily give Bradley two rounds. You could make the argument that he did well enough to steal two more rounds if you wanted to be generous. But the other eight rounds belonged to Pacquiao.
One of the worst things about boxing is the unpredictability of the human condition.
Such as when that human condition allows individuals called ‘judges’ to score a fight.
This should not be difficult. For those of us who remember when schoolyard fights took place between two individuals with fists and not weapons, it was fairly easy to tell who won the fight. The kid who left crying or had the bloody nose lost the fight. The kid who threw more punches and hurt his opponent won.
The same holds true in professional boxing. You are supposed to score each round after it is completed and then you add up the totals after 12 rounds. The fighter who wins the most rounds and therefore has the most scoring points is supposed to win the fight.
That is not what happened last night in Las Vegas when Manny Pacquiao seemingly dominated challenger Tim Bradley in their welterweight championship fight. You could easily give Bradley two rounds. You could make the argument that he did well enough to steal two more rounds if you wanted to be generous. But the other eight rounds belonged to Pacquiao.
That should have given Pacquiao a 116-112 edge in the fight, but none of the three judges scored the bout in that manner. Not even Jerry Roth, who had the fight 115-113 for Pacquiao. The other two judges – C.J. Ross and Duane Ford – each scored it 115-113 for Bradley. These judges have all left themselves open for questioning.
The crowd let a sheepish Bradley know how it felt by booing loudly every time he tried to answer questions from HBO fight analyst Max Kellerman after the fight was over. This was a no doubter because Pacquiao’s punches were more frequent, they did more damage and he controlled the pace of the fight. Bradley did a good job of being an aggressive fighter for six rounds by taking the fight to Pacquiao, but he was hit with hard punches throughout the first six rounds. At that point, Bradley became far less aggressive and it seemed as if he had made up his mind to finish the fight on his feet and that he did not want to get taken out by a Pacquiao flurry.
What should have been a clearcut decision for Pacquiao on his way to a possible bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr. – sometime after Mayweather gets out of prison – became another boxing travesty. Decisions like this that don’t jibe with the action in the ring are usually associated with Olympic boxing. At the professional level, they normally don’t get one-sided fights so wrong.
As expected, Bradley showed his toughness and fought hard. His problem was that he simply did not have enough skill to stay with a great fighter who has quickness, athleticism and creativity in the ring. In boxing parlance, Bradley was outclassed.
Pacquiao did not fight his best fight and he could not put the hard-nosed Bradley down. At 33, he is not in his prime any more. However, he was the better fighter and deserved a fair decision.
Bradley seemed to know he lost the fight, saying Pacquiao had to get a rematch and acknowledging that the former champion had hurt him with several punches. On the other hand, most of Bradley’s punches seemed to land on Pacquiao’s arms.
That’s not how you win a fight. Unless the fight is a the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and is being scored by judges named Ross and Ford.
Hopefully, they will never score a fight of any kind – even in the schoolyard – ever again.
(Is HBO really counting Bradley’s head-butting ability as one of his advantages against Pacquiao? Good grief. / Props: HBOsports)
By Steve Silverman
Timothy Bradley will get the chance of a lifetime on Saturday night when he faces Manny Pacquiao for the WBO welterweight title at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.. Which begs the obvious question…who the hell is Timothy Bradley?
To casual boxing fans, it may seem like the 28-year-old California native came out of nowhere. But Bradley — the reigning WBO and WBC light-welterweight champ — has been competing professionally since 2004, racking up an unblemished 28-0 record (with one no-contest) along the way. While that may be impressive enough on paper to make Bradley worthy of a title shot in the next weight class, a look at his boxing resume reveals that he has only knocked out 12 of his opponents. You can’t say Bradley doesn’t hit hard, but he hasn’t shown the ability to string punches together that lead to impressive KO performances.
Four years ago, Bradley was nearly out of the boxing business altogether. He and his then-girlfriend Monica were down to their last $11 when he flew to England in May 2008 for his first light-welterweight world title fight against Junior Witter — a situation made more desperate by the fact that he and Monica were caring for her two children. Things got pretty grim during those lean years:
(Is HBO really counting Bradley’s head-butting ability as one of his advantages against Pacquiao? Good grief. / Props: HBOsports)
By Steve Silverman
Timothy Bradley will get the chance of a lifetime on Saturday night when he faces Manny Pacquiao for the WBO welterweight title at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.. Which begs the obvious question…who the hell is Timothy Bradley?
To casual boxing fans, it may seem like the 28-year-old California native came out of nowhere. But Bradley — the reigning WBO and WBC light-welterweight champ — has been competing professionally since 2004, racking up an unblemished 28-0 record (with one no-contest) along the way. While that may be impressive enough on paper to make Bradley worthy of a title shot in the next weight class, a look at his boxing resume reveals that he has only knocked out 12 of his opponents. You can’t say Bradley doesn’t hit hard, but he hasn’t shown the ability to string punches together that lead to impressive KO performances.
Four years ago, Bradley was nearly out of the boxing business altogether. He and his then-girlfriend Monica were down to their last $11 when he flew to England in May 2008 for his first light-welterweight world title fight against Junior Witter — a situation made more desperate by the fact that he and Monica were caring for her two children. Things got pretty grim during those lean years:
“As we were literally in the middle of that struggle to survive, I had the craziest thoughts about what I should do [to make money] to feed the kids,” he said. “I can understand how for a lot of people who are really down on their luck, the whole criminal thing becomes appealing.”
Luckily, it didn’t come to that. Bradley earned $65,000 for his split-deicison win over Witter, which gave him the opportunity to keep going in boxing without having to take on a “civilian” job in order to make ends meet. More lucrative fights followed, and it wasn’t long before Bradley turned his life around. He eventually married Monica and the lifestyle issues and the bills that dogged him are no longer an issue. He will earn $5 million for getting into the ring with Pacquiao. (By the way, Pacquiao will earn a reported $26 million for the fight.)
Bradley may not be a household name as he goes into the ring against a legend like Pacquiao, and he is a significant 4-1 underdog in the fight. But he has faced a slew of lefthanders throughout his career so he won’t be thrown off by that aspect of Pacquiao’s game. The real problem for Bradley will come from Pacquiao’s rapid-fire delivery and swarming style. When Pacquiao finds an opening, he does not deliver one or two punches. He throws the proverbial “punches in bunches,” which allows him to stun his opponents and put his imprint on a fight.
To be fair to Bradley, his performance level has gone up since beating Witter, and he has notched victories over highly-rated opponents like Kendall Holt, Lamont Peterson, Devon Alexander, and Joel Casamayor. The victory over Casamayor came via TKO in eight rounds, but again, that’s not how his fights usually end. Bradley is one of the most highly conditioned boxers that Pacquiao has ever faced and Bradley is depending on that asset to allow him to keep pushing hard in the late rounds. While there is some logic to that, Bradley’s conditioning won’t exactly be a key factor if he gets busted up early. If Pacquiao is able to swarm the challenger with combinations throughout the first five rounds, he won’t be around in the later rounds for his conditioning to work in his favor.
Bradley knows he is moving up to the big time and fighting an opponent who is dramatically better than anyone he has ever faced. He has the kind of bravado that is often associated with top boxers, but that doesn’t mean he truly believes he will beat Pacquiao when the two get into the ring together. It’s clear that Bradley is a hard worker with a solid left jab and a good overhand right. But how will he react to a fighter with Pacquiao’s speed and quickness?
It’s the opportunity of a lifetime for Bradley, but that chance could turn out to be a pipe dream a few minutes after he steps into the ring. Not only is he going up against a fighter with more athletic ability, punching accuracy, and finishing talent than anyone he has ever faced. He is also moving to a higher weight class, where his questionable punching-power might look even more underwhelming.
Could Bradley come through with the best performance of his career, frustrate Pacquiao, and somehow go the distance and win the fight? Perhaps. But it seems much more likely that Pacquiao will assert his will, sting Bradley with his unorthodox combinations, and hand this hard-working challenger the first defeat of his career.
In the world of mixed martial arts, many fighters become consumed with the busy lifestyle that comes along with the sport. They become so attached to the sport that they rarely get time away from their everyday training. Not UFC welterweight, Jake Hech…
In the world of mixed martial arts, many fighters become consumed with the busy lifestyle that comes along with the sport. They become so attached to the sport that they rarely get time away from their everyday training. Not UFC welterweight, Jake Hecht. Instead, Hecht is rarely seen as he thoroughly enjoys traveling the world, […]
Floyd Mayweather Jr. may be one of the richest prizefighters ever. But the unbeaten five-division champion who goes by the nickname “Money” is about to trade life in a posh five-bedroom Las Vegas home for almost three months in a cell about one-third the size of a small boxing ring…
As a high-profile inmate, police say Mayweather, 35, probably will serve most of his time in a small solo cell. There is floor space for sit-ups and push-ups. But Mayweather’s stint in the high-rise Clark County Detention Center is expected to limit his ability to train for another fight.
At least for the first week, Mayweather will be segregated for his protection from the other 3,200 inmates in the downtown Las Vegas facility, police Officer Bill Cassell said this week…
Floyd Mayweather Jr. may be one of the richest prizefighters ever. But the unbeaten five-division champion who goes by the nickname “Money” is about to trade life in a posh five-bedroom Las Vegas home for almost three months in a cell about one-third the size of a small boxing ring…
As a high-profile inmate, police say Mayweather, 35, probably will serve most of his time in a small solo cell. There is floor space for sit-ups and push-ups. But Mayweather’s stint in the high-rise Clark County Detention Center is expected to limit his ability to train for another fight.
At least for the first week, Mayweather will be segregated for his protection from the other 3,200 inmates in the downtown Las Vegas facility, police Officer Bill Cassell said this week…
[Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melissa] Saragosa said when she sentenced Mayweather that she was particularly troubled that he threatened and hit ex-girlfriend Josie Harris while their two sons watched. The boys were 10 and 8 at the time. The older boy ran out a back door to fetch a security guard in the gated community.
However, the judge accepted the deal that had Mayweather plead guilty to misdemeanor domestic battery and no contest to two harassment charges. Prosecutors dropped felony and misdemeanor charges that could have gotten Mayweather 34 years in prison if he had been convicted on all counts.
Mayweather’s jail stay will be capped at 87 days, because the judge gave him credit for three days previously served. It could be reduced by several weeks for good behavior, Cassell said Thursday. Mayweather also was ordered to complete a yearlong domestic violence counseling program, 100 hours of community service and pay a $2,500 fine…
Mayweather will be housed in a standard administrative segregation cell no larger than 7-by-12 feet, with a bunk, stainless steel toilet and sink, a steel and wood desk with a permanently bolted stool and two small vertical windows with opaque safety glass…
Mayweather could have about an hour a day out of his cell with access to an exercise yard, Cassell said. Depending on his behavior, the boxer could later get several hours a day for exercise with other inmates also being held in protective custody.
He’ll get a standard-issue blue jail jumpsuit with the letters CCDC and orange slippers.
Mayweather will be able to deposit money into a jail account to purchase snacks, soap and personal hygiene items from the jail commissary.
Damn it…this place already sounds better than my apartment complex. Anybody want to take bets on how many days he actually serves? Related question: This Timothy Bradley dude is going to get royally ass-dug, right?
I am a massive fan of MMA and the UFC. I have watched every UFC event and attended live shows. I substantiate Dana’s claim that a live UFC show is the greatest sporting event on the planet. Dana and his organization—and others—are doin…
I am a massive fan of MMA and the UFC. I have watched every UFC event and attended live shows. I substantiate Dana’s claim that a live UFC show is the greatest sporting event on the planet.
Dana and his organization—and others—are doing excellent work and deserve a lot of credit. The UFC deserves to be in the upper echelon of all mainstream sports.
However, people are trespassing beyond absurdity in their claims as to how far the sport has come. UFC Central, an excellent program broadcast on Sportsnet, recently claimed in the Mir-JDS preview that the UFC heavyweight crown is the most prestigious title in all of combat sports.
This seemed worth analysis.
The UFC heavyweight division adorned their first champion on February 7, 1997. Mark Coleman became the inaugural winner that night and to date, 15 other occasions have transpired where the title has been won.
In many cases, the winner was a previous champion. Considering a division that has only existed for fifteen years as the most prestigious of combat sports appears at the very least hyperbolic.
The 16 occasions when the title was won have never produced a truly dominant champion. No champion has ever reigned for two consecutive years. One would think the owner of such a heralded title would be able to maintain their lofty status.
The title has been won by defeating dubious challengers such as Tank Abbott, Gan McGee, Justin Eilers, Pedro Rizzo, Jeff Monson and Paul Buentello. Defeating this calibre of opponents, who had less-than-glorious MMA careers and fell into relative obscurity, does not warrant the achievement to be exalted as the greatest in the combat sport universe.
The title winners who themselves had pedestrian career achievements in MMA are numerous: Mark Coleman, Tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovksi and Brock Lesnar.
These were tremendous athletes that usually excelled in one skill set and were far from true mixed martial artists. They benefited from the fact that they competed in a fledgling sport that had few high-level competitors. The argument for parity being the reason for the high turnover rate is nullified by the subsequent careers of challengers and champions.
Randy Couture is a legend. One of the greatest MMA fighters of all time. He held the title three times and collectively for over 1000 days. He is a truly great champion. Frank Mir is a successful former champion as well. However, do their achievements speak so loudly that their crown should be recognized as the greatest of them all?
Frankly, I would suggest that GSP and Anderson Silva deserve more stature as champions for their dominance in their divisions than the big fellas in the over-205-pound category. The welterweight and middleweight divisions are more respected and competitive than the mercurial heavyweight division.
Becoming a champion is a laudable accolade, and these gentlemen deserve praise for what they accomplished. However, in these instances, it is difficult to surmise that their actions merited their place on the throne as the most illustrious athlete in the martial arts dimension.
In delving into this claim assiduously, one sees a division that is but 15 years young with a penchant for a rapid change of winners with limited longevity in the UFC. Furthermore, title challengers are difficult to grade as elite, and the division is the most anemic of all in the history of the flagship MMA organization.
Realistically, would one have been able to produce a legitimate top-ten MMA heavyweight list five years ago? How thin would a top-20 list be today?
When we suggest that the UFC heavyweight belt is more prestigious than all others, which titles are being subjugated?
Is Ali’s WBC world heavyweight boxing title is less important? The same title worn by Frazier, Foreman and Holmes and defended against the best in the world is realistically not beneath the UFC title, which represents a sport not even sanctioned in many countries.
That is simply an irrational assessment void of logic and sound reasoning.
In a more modern context, many aficionados would grant the authority to Ring Magazine and their pound-for-pound greatest list to pass the sceptre.
Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and the Klitschko brothers have been more consistent against better competition in a more legitimate sport for over a decade. Their claims to be the king of combat sports carry far greater validity.
Floyd is undefeated in a career that began before the UFC heavyweight division had ever named a champion; His amateur career culminated with a bronze Olympic medal. Manny has lost once since 1999. Vitali has one loss since 2001, and his brother Wladimir has been undefeated from 2005 to the present date.
These are examples of dominating a sport. It would sincerely perplex me for one to purport these accomplishments as inferior to winning the UFC heavyweight title.
I am very excited to see the Mir-JDS bout. These are two high-level athletes rich in skill and amazing capabilities. It would be JDS’s first defense if he wins. Regardless of the winner, they, along with every fighter that competes, demand the respect and admiration of the public.
Yet the one strapped with the coveted UFC belt will not be the greatest champion in combat sports. The sport is too young, the division too weak, the champions too ephemeral and the tradition of boxing too glorious to yield to over-enthusiastic absurdity.
In the future, this may very well come true. Today, in 2012, the UFC heavyweight title is not even in the conversation for the most prestigious title in combat sports.
Tim Bradley won the biggest fight of his career last night, when he was awarded a split decision against Manny Pacquiao during their main event fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
