Pacquiao vs Bradley: Breaking Down CJ Ross and Duane Ford's Scorecard

What fight did CJ Ross and Duane Ford watch?

I believe I am just the person to analyze the scorecards that turned boxing on its ear, seeing as though I also scored the fight for Timothy Bradley last night.

It's starting to feel like the three of us are the only ones that watched the same fight.

There is no question in my mind that Manny Pacquiao is a better fighter, but last night, he took rounds off and it cost him. I truly believe that HBO's influence had a lot to do with the perception of this bout.

Here are the official scorecards, image from Sports Illustrated:

Let's start from the top:

(I was tweeting my score last night, after almost every round so I'll include that.)

Punch Stats from Compubox

Round 1 

Ross 10-9 Pacquiao - Total Score 10-9 Pacquiao

Ford  10-9 Bradley - Total Score 10-9 Bradley

I had this round even, I had not started to tweet each score. I was taking a bite of a sandwich and not in a tweet-able position. Pacquiao had not opened up with power punches, and Bradley did nothing special.

There was no clear ring generalmanship displayed—it was the classic feeling-out round—and thus, I had it even.

Round 2

Ross 10-9 Bradley - Total Score 19-19

Ford 10-9 Bradley - Total Score 19-19

"

I have hit 20-19 Bradley, 1st round even

— Brian Mazique (@BrianMazique) June 10, 2012"

I felt Bradley was better in Round 2, one or two hard punches don't negate nearly doubling your opponents punch output, which Bradley did in Round 2, 72-37.

I had it 20-19 Bradley.

Round 3

Ross 10-9 Pacquiao - Total Score 29-28 Pacquiao

Ford 10-9 Pacquiao - Total Score 29-28 Pacquiao

"

29-29, on my card 3rd round is Manny's

— Brian Mazique (@BrianMazique) June 10, 2012"

This was clearly Manny's round. He started landing the hard left hand and he hurt Bradley on two occasions.

Round 4

Ross 10-9 Pacquiao - Total Score 39-37 Pacquiao

Ford 10-9 Pacquiao - Total Score 39-37 Pacquiao

"

39-38 Pacquiao over Bradley, 4th round is Manny's

— Brian Mazique (@BrianMazique) June 10, 2012"

At this point, I really thought Manny was going to stop Bradley, but he didn't stay as aggressive with the power shots.

Round 5

Ross 10-9 Bradley - Total Score 48-47 Pacquiao

Ford 10-9 Bradley - Total Score 48-47 Pacquiao

"

49-47 Pacquiao

— Brian Mazique (@BrianMazique) June 10, 2012"

I actually gave this round to Pacquiao. I felt he stole the round in the last minute. This was a tactic he used throughout the fight, but it backfired on him when the judges didn't give him the rounds.

Round 6

Ross 10-9 Pacquiao - Total Score 58-56 Pacquiao

Ford 10-9 Pacquiao - Total Score 58-56 Pacquiao

"

Bradley looks gassed, had that round but retreated to the corner 59-56 Manny

— Brian Mazique (@BrianMazique) June 10, 2012"

Bradley was winning this round, but he retreated to his corner. This allowed Manny to steal the round, and I thought Bradley was going to just try and survive.

Round 7

Ross 10-9 Bradley - Total Score 67-66 Pacquiao

Ford 10-9 Bradley - Total Score 67-66 Pacquiao

"

68-66 Manny

— Brian Mazique (@BrianMazique) June 10, 2012"

I gave this round to Bradley. Pacquiao tried to come on at the end, but Bradley outworked him. Neither man landed a ton of punches, but Bradley threw almost twice as many jabs (32-18). In an uneventful round, that will get you the nod.

Round 8

Ross 10-9 Bradley - Total Score 76-76 Even

Ford 10-9 Bradley - Total Score 76-76 Even

"

78-76 Manny, this is not shut out, Manny is winning but its not a shut out

— Brian Mazique (@BrianMazique) June 10, 2012"

This was very similar to Round 7. I scored it even because Pacquiao landed two solid lefts, but Bradley outworked him in my opinion.

At this point, I stopped tweeting about the rounds. I wished I hadn't, but I continued to score the fight at home. I admit I became overwhelmed with HBO's commentary and millions of pro-Pacquiao tweets.

I did offer this one last observation:

"

This is the most bias I've ever heard boxing announcers

— Brian Mazique (@BrianMazique) June 10, 2012"

Round 9

Ross 10-9 Pacquiao - Total Score 86-85 Pacquiao

Ford 10-9 Bradley - Totals Score 86-85 Bradley

I gave this round to Bradley. Manny seemed tired at this point, or at least he was coasting. Either way, he just wasn't doing much to win the rounds. Bradley even out-landed him in this round. I had it 86-85 Pacquiao at this point.

Round 10

Ross 10-9 Bradley - Total Score 95-95 Even

Ford 10-9 Bradley - Total Score 96-94 Bradley

This is really the point where I believe Bradley stole the fight. Manny was listening to the crowd, and believing he had already won the fight.

Meanwhile, Bradley was scoring with his activity and Pacquiao wasn't landing power shots nearly as often. Bradley threw more shots, and they landed an equal amount of jabs and power shots.

I had it even 95-95 at this point.

Round 11

Ross 10-9 Bradley 10-9 - Total Score 105-104 Bradley

Ford 10-9 Pacquiao 10-9 Total Score 105-104 Bradley

I gave another round to Bradley. It was the same formula, he out-worked Pac-Man again (76-66). A large part of this disparity is in the jab total. This is often overlooked when judging fights, but they are punches and they must be scored.

I had it 105-104 for Bradley at this point, but even I was doubting that I'd see my score come up.

Round 12

Ross 10-9 Bradley - Total Score 115-113 Bradley

Ford 10-9 Bradley - Total Score 115-113 Bradley

It's the final round and Bradley continued to be the busier fighter in another largely uneventful round. I gave it to Bradley and came up with the same final score: 115-113.

That was my take, and apparently two others that are paid to score fights shared my sentiments. Even the judge that scored it for Pacquiao didn't have the landslide everyone else predicted.

I blame the HBO broadcasting for much of that. Max Kellerman addresses their possible influence and talks about other knowledgeable people that also scored the fight for Bradley:

The fight was close, and I wouldn't have cried foul if Pacquiao won the fight, but there is no way he blew Bradley out.

Follow Brian Mazique and Franchiseplay.net for reactions, analysis and news from the world of sports and sports video games.

Follow @BrianMazique

Follow @franchiseplay