Pacquiao vs Bradley: Rematch Would Fail to Live Up to Expectations

Bob Arum may be the new Vince McMahon.

The Top Rank promoter is in outrage over the shocking decision to give Timothy Bradley the win over Manny Pacquiao on Saturday night…publicly.

While I won’t accuse him of being in some sort of match fixing scandal to ensure Desert Storm won, his post-fight comments were incredibly bizarre (via ESPN):

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Something like this is so outlandish, it's a death knell for the sport. This is f------ nuts. I have both guys, and I'll make a lot of money in the rematch, but it's ridiculous. You have these old f---- who don't know what the hell they're looking at.

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Notice how in the heat of the moment he is already looking ahead for the potential rematch. Arum knows the whole world wants Pac-Man to get the justice he deserves in the rematch, and the hype for Round 2 would be rather high. Arum will be laughing all the way to the bank.

He is publicly acting incredibly angry and has even called for a review of the judges who ruled in favor of Bradley. I believe he is just putting on a show. ESPN boxing analyst Teddy Atlas agrees, and he believes the whole system is messed up:

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Unfortunately, the scorers of fights are incompetent. Sometimes they’re more than incompetent. Sometimes they’re corrupt. (Boxing) doesn’t have a national commission, like other sports do. Doesn’t have a police body, like other sports have. And therefore you get this kind of situation.

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Atlas then takes it a step further when talking about Arum and the obvious benefits he gets from a rematch:

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I’m not sure if it’s accurate that Pacquiao was about to leave one of the kingpins of the sport, Bob Arum. His contract was running out. But I think it was. And when that happens, sometimes funny things happen.

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We all know Pac-Man landed almost 100 more punches (253 to 159), we all know he landed more punches in the vast majority of the rounds (10 of 12), and wel all know who was more injured after the bout.

So if Pacquiao were to put on a similar performance in the fall, he’ll get the win this time in a fight that will be rather hollow. The stink of Saturday night will still hover. Justice will only be served to a certain extent. Then Round 3 will be an option.

The people want Floyd Mayweather to step into the ring with Pacquiao for the fight of the decade. Arum doesn’t want this to happen, and ensuring a Bradley-Pacquiao rematch will push back the potential super-fight even further.  

Bradley was a worthy challenger, but was clearly beaten. He doesn’t deserve another shot. Now he will enter a potential Round 2 as the “champ,” even though will know his record should stand at 28-1 and not 29-0.

Bottom line: Arum promotes both fighters and having his two biggest stars match up as many times as possible is in his best interest. He was not mad at the outcome and is clearly overreacting to show the world he was outraged.

A potential Round 2 will be entertaining, but it will forever be remembered with a giant asterisk next to it.

This is not what the struggling sport of boxing needs. 

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