Tim Bradley Is the Biggest Victim in Bradley-Pacquiao Controversy

He sat there in a wheelchair—and this was after he won. The moment, reaching the pinnacle and beating the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, should have sent Tim Bradley to a new stratum.

It didn’t.

As Bradley, who worked tirelessly in climbing to the top of the boxing world, was trying to enjoy the fruits of fighting Manny Pacquiao on one broken ankle and one sprained, the rest of the world was yelling invective over the decision.

Judges C.J. Ross and Duane Ford had it 115-113 for “Desert Storm,” while judge Jerry Roth had it 115-113 for “Pac-Man,” so apparently, three ringside judges saw it as a close, competitive fight.

Media, fans, anyone and everyone who saw or heard about the fight was screaming over it. They wanted answers. How could such a one-sided fight, in the minds of many, have been judged so tightly and so wrongly by two judges?

While everyone was banging their drums, what got lost—and has been lost—is the real victim in all of this. Though he stands to benefit the most, Bradley’s flash in the sun was robbed from him.

After all of the morning runs, the countless hours toiling with weights under the glare of the sun, the many trips he took to get a shot at Pacquiao, it came, regrettably, tumbling down as soon as announcer Michael Buffer uttered the words “and new WBO … ”

You would think otherwise. But Bradley didn’t want to win like this, and to blame Bradley for any of what has gone on with threats of investigations and the clamoring for the government to take control of boxing, is simply wrong.

All Bradley did was fight. And fight quite well. He landed 159 of 839 (19-percent) punches, according to CompuBox, to Pacquiao’s 253 of 751 (34-percent). He kept coming at Pacquiao and coming at Pacquiao, receiving quite a bit of punishment each time he got close.

Still, Bradley kept on coming.

Reviews are supposedly pending. According to RingTV.com’s Lem Satterfield, “Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer plans to review the video of Tim Bradley’s disputed split-decision that dethroned Manny Pacquiao as WBO welterweight titleholder separately with each of the fight's three judges.”

Polls were taken showing a predominant amount of so-called savvy boxing media (an oxymoron) choosing Pacquiao as the winner. Most by lopsided tallies.

Ultimately, regardless of what the media thought, or those sitting ringside thought, regardless of all the furor over this, it ultimately came down to two judges who saw the fight one way and a third who actually saw the same fight as the other two.

You can’t blame Tim Bradley for that.