Manny Pacquiao: Star Shows He Is Class of Boxing with Gracious Reaction to Loss

Manny Pacquiao was robbed of a victory by the ringside judges at the MGM Grand in his split decision loss the Timothy "Desert Storm" Bradley on Saturday, but you wouldn't know it by the way he reacted to the judge's announcement.

Nobody knows what amount of tension and fury were swirling inside of the now-former WBO Welterweight champion—if any at all. All we know is that Pacquiao should have been ruled the winner of the fight, but for reasons unbeknownst to the general public, he was deprived of his 16th consecutive victory.

In a sport where there are so many variables, so many unpredictable events, Pacquiao is one of the constants. No matter what happens in the ring, he will take the result with a smile, congratulate his opponent, give thanks to his fans and be on his merry way.

The judges botched this fight terribly, and the majority of neutral fans who watched the fight will agree with that statement. Can you imagine the reaction that Floyd Mayweather would have had if he was the victim of such incompetence? He would have never put this to rest. He'd take to Twitter to make his opinions known, he'd probably file a formal complaint, he'd demand a rematch but he wouldn't have taken it as graciously as Pacquiao did.

Even after the controversial ruling, Pacquiao stood next to Bradley taking questions from Max Kellerman regarding whether he thought he won the fight and if he wanted a rematch. All Pacquiao said was this:

"

"I did my best," Pacquiao said. "I guess my best wasn't good enough."

"

His reaction was a stark contrast to what his promoter Bob Arum said about the fight:

"

"Something like this is so outlandish, it's a death knell for the sport. This is [expletive] nuts. I have both guys, and I'll make a lot of money in the rematch, but it's ridiculous. You have these old [expletive] who don't know what the [expletive] they're looking at. It's incompetence. Nobody who knows anything about boxing could have Bradley ahead in the fight."

"

There was no profanity-laced tirade from Pacquiao. There was no pouting. Nobody would have blamed Pacquiao if he grabbed the microphone, told the judges they were clueless, looked Bradley in the eye and said "there's no way you wont that fight, and you know it."

But no, that's not the way Pacquiao does things. All he did was say a prayer and head back to his locker room.

He may not be as close to fan's hearts as boxers in the past were—because of his lack of a mean streak—but his reaction was the best thing for boxing. A post-fight outburst would have only complicated the situation further.

Boxing may be headed towards one of its lowest points in recent memory, but Pacquiao remains a class act in the sport. His congenial demeanor and never-fading smile may have saved boxing from disaster after his bout with Bradley.