Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley: WBO's Review of Fight is Right Move

Manny Pacquiao beat Timothy Bradley on Saturday night, but the decision didn’t go his way.

On Wednesday, it was announced that the World Boxing Organization (WBO) would be formally reviewing the fight (per ESPN.com). Judges Duane Ford and C.J. Ross scored the fight 115-113 for Bradley, while Jerry Roth had it 115-113 for Pacquiao.

It was not that close.

This comes just days after the Nevada State Athletic Commission chose not to place a formal review on this fight and allowed the ruling to stand. After an outpouring of backlash, it’s about time someone stood up and took some action.

ESPN’s Dan Rafael is reporting about the WBO’s decision to review the fight and what it means:

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WBO president Francisco "Paco" Valcarcel, who was ringside for the fight, said his organization's championship committee will review the fight. He said that the committee "will meet soon" and "will examine (the fight) with five recognized international judges to evaluate the video of the match and agree to what emerges."

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While that last line is incredibly vague, the fact that the fight is being reviewed is enough for many of the boxing fans that couldn’t believe Pacquiao lost.

Overturning the ruling would be extremely controversial and bring even more suspicion to the sport, and forcing the duo to have a rematch is pointless because that was going to happen anyway.

That leaves the WBO with their hands tied; forced to allow this ruling to stand.

Fans should not get their hopes up because there will be no decision to change the outcome of the fight. The sport of boxing already has a black-enough eye from this incident, and a reversal now would only stoke the fire.

The only hope now is that the commission comes out with a formal statement that says the fight was close enough to justify the split decision and the win was ultimately justifiable for Bradley.

Judges are paid to make calls right on the spot, and that’s exactly what they did. They just got it wrong.

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