Pacquiao vs Bradley Highlights: Boxing Must Institute Post-Fight Review

Perhaps it is time boxing did more than appoint judges to determine the winners of a fight. Perhaps it is time we started judging the decisions of our judges as well.

That's right—boxing must institute a post-fight review board if it wants to quash the conspiracy theories and be taken seriously once more.

To the naked eye, Manny Pacquiao clearly beat Timothy Bradley on Saturday night, or at least to most naked eyes. Clearly, judges Duane Ford and C.J. Ross saw it differently.

But given the majority and the stats compiled during the fight, shouldn't that decision be reviewable? Wouldn't that clear up any conspiracy theories—or errors in judgment—after a fight like this one?

It couldn't hurt. In this case, the outcome may very well be overturned if this fight was reviewed after the fact. Consider the following from Tim Dahlberg of the Associated Press (via the Idaho Press-Tribune):

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The end of Pacquiao's 15-fight winning streak was even more startling because most near ringside didn't see it coming. Almost without exception every writer had Pacquiao well ahead, while HBO's resident unofficial judge Harold Lederman had him winning 11 rounds out of 12. The Associated Press scored it 117-111 for Pacquiao.

Punching stats compiled by Compubox showed Pacquiao landing 253 punches to 159 for Bradley, and landing more punches in 10 of the 12 rounds.

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I know there will always be a grey area of subjectivity, even in compiling punches-landed stats. And ultimately, there is a certain amount of gut feeling that must be taken into account when deciding which man "won" the fight when both are left standing at the end.

But why not ensure we get the result right? We've seen the advent of instant replay in sports. Rules are updated and altered to ensure the highest quality of results.

Is boxing so sacred that it too cannot adjust?

If so, people will continue to doubt the legitimacy and integrity of what they have seen. I'm not saying this fight was fixed, but does it really matter anyway?

A huge legion of people are convinced it was. That belief alone is damaging. And it's not as though boxing doesn't have a seedy enough history to warrant speculation after a result like the one on Saturday night.

A post-fight review board could clear up many of the issues boxing faces. It's worth consideration at the very least.

Hit me up on Twitter—my tweets really wanted to have another.