This fight has had a lot of controversy swirling around it and I had several conversations on Facebook yesterday about it. I think part of the problem is so many people do not know how boxing matches are scored. So many people think it has to do solely with how many punches are thrown and landed and that just isn’t so as is indicated by the link above.

At any rate I am watching the fight a day after it happened and my comments per round are below. I am adding them after each round.

Round 1

The commentators talking about how Manny is on the decline in the first seconds of the fight.  Considering the fact that I am watching this after I already know the outcome and the controversy surrounding it you have to wonder if there is a conspiracy that goes beyond the judges. That is if there is a conspiracy at all.

Listening to the commentators talking about how Manny is out of position after he punches and how Bradley is counter punching.

At any rate towards the end of round 1 the one commentator gets all excited about 3 lefts Manny connects with. Yet on replay it seems like Bradley is pulling away or ducking as they land so I guess they’re not all that effective.

Got to love the flow of a match though. Bradley was winning the round in the beginning but by the end the commentators had it scored for Manny.

Round 2

OK, so during round 2 we had a hold by Bradley but he was at least punching.  Usually, when they hug it’s just to tie up the other guy. Now they say he had Manny’s arm pinned. Gonna go back and check that. At any rate Manny just stood there taking body shots and made no effort to get free until the ref broke  it up. The commentators commented on how they are surprised the ref didn’t see  the arm pinned and break it up. Yet you clearly hear the ref say, “Can’t you get out?”

Now I went back and looked. Clearly Bradley’s left arm is pinned under Manny’s right and Bradley OFF AND ON pins Manny’s right with his (Bradley’s) head and body.  The commentator said Bradley’s left arm was clamped over Manny’s right arm. What fight are they watching? I’ll say it again, Manny made no effort to get free and as I said the pin of Manny’s right arm was with Bradley’s body and head and considering how sweaty both men are it wouldn’t have been too hard to get free if Manny  released Bradley’s left arm. Seems to me they held each other together and Bradley took advantage of it.

Beyond that it seems to me that Bradley was pretty aggressive and went after Manny on a couple of occasions. Especially, at 1:15 left in the round and he remained in control after that. The compubox numbers even show Bradley throwing more punches yet landing less percentage wise but there is something to be said for throwing massive numbers of punches as well.

I found it interesting though that Manny had delayed the fight due to a tight calf muscle.

Round 3

So again we have Bradley throwing a lot of punches and as the commentators were saying he wasn’t doing it for power but it does seem to be keeping Manny on guard more and Manny is not throwing many punches. Although, Manny’s punches do seem to be pinpoint lefts for power.  So if Bradley can find a way to stop those or defend against them it will go a long way.

Round 4

Almost immediately after the round starts Bradley lands a borderline low blow but the ref misses it. Then a minute later he lands a low blow and the ref warns him. I guess it makes sense that would happen as Bradley keeps dipping his head and upper body low to try to land punches while trying to avoid Manny’s.

Well, we get to about 40-45 seconds left in the round and Manny explodes on Bradley which does hurt him. But to Bradley’s credit he shoot it off and got back standing toe to toe with Manny while still being defensive and coherent enough to avoid being hit. THAT IS CALLED DEFENSE and it is a scoring factor. Another thing judges score on is ring generalship and again I will say it. Even though Bradley’s punches don’t have a lot of power and even though he is not landing a large percentage he is forcing Manny to fight his way and not the way Manny wants to fight. He is clearly forcing Manny to limit the number of punches he throws.

Listening to Bradley’s trainer telling Bradley to ignore the pain in his foot. So it must have been sometime in round 3 or 4 when he hurts his left foot. UPDATE: OK, I just read it happened in the second round. So this guy is fighting against Manny Pacquiao with an injured foot and he is still standing toe to toe and still throwing punches and still controlling the pace of the fight. THAT’S HEART!

At any rate just before round 5 starts they replay (slo mo) the flurry from Manny that seemed to rock Bradley. Very few of the punches landed cleanly and after Bradley escapes you see his foot give out under him. Now if he hurt his foot in the second and not there in the 4th I guess that explains why he looked wobbly. Not from being hurt from punches (considering few landed hard) but from his foot/ankle hurting him. This also explains why he was in a wheelchair post fight.

Round 5

OK, these commentators are retarded. Talking about how a left by Manny (30 seconds left in the round) moved Bradley halfway across the ring. THE GUY IS RETREATING TO GET OUT OF PUNCHING RANGE!  He wasn’t moved. He is moving. These guys may make the action sound good but they are lousy when it comes to seeing how the fight is really unfolding.

And for a guy with a bad foot he doesn’t seem to be favoring it at all. He’s moving all over the place and with ease. So again he is ignoring the pain. Standing toe to toe and exchanging shots with Manny.  This guy is showing me some incredible heart here.

Round ends and Manny is pushing Bradley down (Bradley was again dipping to avoid being hit) and pushes him away which, coupled with the foot, causes the guy to stumble away as if he was going to fall. Bradley regains his balance and walks solidly and unhurt back to his corner. This guy isn’t hurt too badly so I don’t think Manny’s power is affecting him as much as the commentators want you to believe.

Manny in his corner. Mouth guard out and his mouth is bleeding.

Round 6

Round starts and they show 5 rounds to none for Manny and you hear the commentators talking about power shots again. ARE THESE GUYS SCORING ONLY ON PUNCHES???

Halfway through the round and neither guy has thrown many punches. They’re just resting and feeling each other out.

OK, so the commentators were right there. I said it here before I heard it there but Manny is taking the first 2/3 of the round to rest and then attacks in the last minute. That is definitely what happened in this round but toward the end of the flurry Manny holds and actually has Bradley in a headlock. LOL

End of the round but the last 20 seconds or so Bradley was making Manny miss and again though Manny is out of position after he punches. I think a lot of that has to do with Bradley being defensive and moving and retreating. Manny knows this and extends forward to punch. Shame Bradley isn’t going back to counter punching. With Manny leaving himself open like this he could probably land a few good shots to exploit this.

Round 7

Again we start off the round listening to the commentators scoring every round for Manny based on punching power.

1;50 left in the round and the commentators clearly said that Bradley likes to fight the way he is fighting now. Add to that he has forced Manny to change his style. THAT IS RING GENERALSHIP AND IT IS SCORABLE.

Now here at around a minute left in the round the two guys go at it exchanging punches but Bradley is unhurt and still fighting. I wish he’d throw some power punches but oh well Manny is still unhurt and he’s having a good time in there. Either that or he is getting cocky because he’s not getting hurt. Not sure which. Maybe a bit of both.

OK, at like 40 seconds or so there was a shot that rocked Bradley back a bit but he still comes back at Manny. Watching Bradley’s feet though. He seems to be standing flat at times and not dancing. He also settled down a bit as far as he is not being AS aggressive as he was earlier in the fight. I guess the foot may actually being causing him some pain/discomfort.

So in the corner Bradley’s trainer telling him to lay back and counter. DIDN’T I SAY THAT EARLIER?

Round 8

Commentator says, “Maybe one of the judges could have found a round here or there to give to Bradley but so far it’s been pretty close to a shut out for Manny Pacquiao or so it appears to us.”

First minute of the round has been all Bradley punching with a bit of Manny sprinkled in.

We enter the second minute of the round and accidental headbutt by Manny. Bradley comes back and takes charge again. Manny didn’t do much of anything in the last minute of this round which is odd considering the last few rounds.

I like the comment that Jinky Pacquiao made a stern comment or asked a stern question of her son. No she didn’t. She has a look of concern on her face and makes a comment to her son. It wasn’t stern. If she was going to give a stern comment to one it would have been the son on her left who was jumping around in his seat not to the kid who was sitting nice.

Round 9

First minute of the fight Bradley loses his balance trying to avoid punches. OK, looked at it again. He lost his footing at around 2:13 or so and almost fell back. To his credit or maybe not…Manny didn’t press forward to take advantage of it. Shows class but also cost himself a chance at a possible knockout punch where Bradley would have been unable to defend.

1:50-1:37 nice flurry by both fighters but started by Manny.

That round looked pretty even as far as how well both fighters fought. Both landed punches and defended well but only Manny is landing consistent power punches. Again, that is not and should not be the only thing scored on nor should  it have more weight on the judges scoring than the other factors scored on.

Round 10

1:25 Manny should go into the WWE with all these headlocks. LOL LOL

Now they’re talking about Bradley’s foot again. Yeah, it’s true all fighters have something to deal with that affects them adversely but if you can’t plant your foot you can’t punch for power. If you can’t move effectively it’s hard to avoid getting hit or to move in to punch. So this is pretty big but I don’t know how bad it is either. It doesn’t seem to be affecting him as far as I can see but again he is flat footed a lot so maybe it is bothering him.

Conversely, and they just made that comment, Manny had tight calves before the fight and that could be a reason for Manny to be sitting back for most of the rounds but Manny seems to be doing a lot more dancing than Bradley. I also think the sitting back is what ultimately costs him this fight. The fact that he does sit back and he does let Bradley control the majority of the rounds.

Another round where Manny did very little except in the last 10 seconds or so.

The commentators commented how Bradley was counter punching but I don’t think he did enough of it. I want to say abandoning that tactic for so long was a big mistake but I think by getting aggressive and by throwing a lot of punches he actually won the fight as a result. Had he sat back and counter punched he may not have taken control and I think that went a long way in the judge’s eyes toward his winning this fight and certainly this round and the last one for sure.

Who was fighting this fight? Manny or Freddie Roach? Why does Roach sound punch drunk? LOL

OK, they replay the video from earlier in the fight when Bradley twists his ankle. Oddly enough it is the right ankle he appears to twist yet the papers and everything says it is the left one that’s hurt. Interesting.

Round 11

OHHHHH….Now the commentators are giving Bradley some credit. Yet they only do it after they see the ankle twist. Now suddenly they’re commenting on how strong his chin is and how much heart he has. LOL LOL I had been saying it the whole fight.

Now a commentator mentions that Manny took command of the fight early on because he landed more power shots? WHAT FIGHT ARE YOU GUYS WATCHING??????

Now they are saying how good both fighters move but then they talk about Manny’s footwork is so good and “he gets to places no other fighter can get to.” Yet I am watching a guy with one or two injured feet/ankles move all over the place. This guy is as nimble as a cat even with the bad feet/ankles.

Again, Manny landing power shots and limiting his punches and Bradley is still aggressive and still going toe to toe with Manny and isn’t getting hurt and is still moving around a lot.

Round 12

Most of the first minute is gone (2:12 left) and Bradley came out punching but the commentators say this is the 5th Manny fight in a row to go the distance but Manny still punches well. Yeah but obviously he’s not doing as much damage as he used to because he’s not knocking guys out anymore.

Now a commentator says that Manny hasn’t been able to land solid on Bradley because Bradly is “dipping, twisting, turning, bucking, turning around….” Wasn’t this the same guy who was, throughout the fight, saying how Manny is landing all these hard shots?

WHOA! WAIT! Now this round has been pretty active for both guys. Lots of punches thrown. YET THIS ONE THEY ARE GIVING TO BRADLEY? Yet the other rounds where he controlled most of the round they give to Manny due to his punching power only. LOL LOL LOL THESE GUYS ARE CLUELESS.

Post Fight before the result announcement

They show this “story of the fight in highlight form” and the same guy who I mentioned before who changed his tune in the 11th after he saw the replay of Bradley hurting his right ankle, is now saying Manny was only able to land that left CONSISTENTLY in the beginning of the fight and not since.

OK, now we are looking at the 3 judges “credentials” if you will and Lederman talks briefly about each one.

The first one is Duane Ford who scored IN FAVOR OF MANNY over Marquez in the second fight. Lederman calls him “a solid choice” for a judge of the fight. 148 title fights.

The second judge is C.J. Ross with only 19 title fights. Lederman says that she’s been judging for a while (since 1992) but he doesn’t know “if she’s ready for a fight like this. She’s a little bit shaky.”

The third judge is Jerry Roth with 153 title fights. Lederman thinks that Roth is usually pretty good but that Roth had trouble in the Rios vs. Abril fight. Again, this is Lederman’s opinion.

Results Announcement

• Jerry Roth – For Pacquiao 115-113
• C.J. Ross – For Bradley 115-113
• Duane Ford – For Bradley 115-113

Commentator says, “I don’t think we’re blind. I think Harold Lederman is the best scorer alive. I think that is a terrible bogus decision.”

You guys are blind because you had no idea what the hell you were talking about and you guys certainly have no idea how to score a professional prize fight.

My analysis of the fight

I think that the Ross and Ford had this fight dead to rights. First of all most people, and obviously these commentators, have no idea how a fight is scored. A fight is not scored/judged based on punches alone and certainly not based on punching power alone. These guys who called this fight for HBO were clearly scoring based on that alone.

First I want to say that judges are human and as such they base their scores on their JUDGEMENT which is why we call them JUDGES.

So I will break down the four factors scored on.

CLEAN PUNCHING – Where as this is usually what judges base the majority of their scoring on it’s certainly not the only factor. Clean punches must land in a scorable area of the opponents body/head while not being a glancing or deflected blow. Clearly, Manny scored many of these and he certainly landed more power shots but MANY of his shots were glancing or deflected and not nearly as many of these hurt Bradley as the commentators would have you believe.

EFFECTIVE AGGRESSIVENESS – This is where Manny’s power USUALLY comes into play because even if a shot is not a clean punch if it does clear damage to the other guy then it is scored on. But again Bradley wasn’t hurt that much or that often or even that badly throughout the fight so a lot of this for Manny was lost compared to his other fights.

The other part of effective aggressiveness is when a fighter moves forward aggressively and lands more clean punches and/or damaging punches. Where as neither fighter really landed that many damaging shots Bradley was clearly the aggressor throughout most of the fight. This was never more true than when Manny was taking off large portions of rounds to rest.

This was a HUGE part of Bradley’s win.

RING GENERALSHIP – This is the ability of a fighter to control the pace and the style of a fight. Clearly Bradley had this one in his favor. He forced Pacquiao to play a cat and mouse wait for an opening style fight. Clearly, Bradley controlled the pace of the fight as well.

DEFENSE – Simply put this is a fighter’s ability to avoid being hit or to avoid taking punishment. I think both fighters did an excellent job in this area and where as most judges don’t put much weight on this area (which is not what they’re supposed to do) I think the fact that Bradley had commanded the fight pace and threw so many punches he forced Pacquiao to take cover until Manny found the openings to fight through. Well, that is when Manny wasn’t on his siestas in the ring.

Now a lot of people think that to hide and dance and to avoid being hit is a pussy way to fight it is certainly something that Ali did a lot and he is considered to be one of the greatest fighters of all time.

My thoughts

Personally, I find it interesting that the judges scored it close and the commentators didn’t. I think it is interesting that Manny says, “I definitely won the fight.” and Bradley says he knows it was close and he wants to review the tape to see if he really won. I agree this was a close fight but that when you score it the way you are supposed to score it Bradley takes it but when you score it on punches landed and power punches (incorrect) it is in favor of Manny. So I think the fight was scored correctly but because most people don’t know how to correctly score a fight there is not controversy. I also think the fact that Manny is such a popular champion and he lost such a close fight also causes a lot of problems for people.

Conspiracy

Listening to Arum, and the HBO commentators and so many others everyone has a conspiracy theory. The judges were paid off. The Nevada State Athletic Commission won’t give Manny another close decision after the Marquez one. There are tons of these theories flying around but despite the fact that so many other knowledgeable people at ringside said the fight was close these rumors still persist.

Personally, I do not completely discount the possibility but I do think it’s possible the NSAC instructed the judges to score this fight by the book which would account not only for the consistency between the judges but also the inconsistency between how the media scored it and how the judges scored it.