Manny Pacquiao: Controversial Decisions Shouldn't Be Part of the Sport

Manny Pacquiao took his split-decision loss to Timothy Bradley on Saturday surprisingly well, given how atrocious the decision really was.

Pacquiao said after the bout, via the Washington Post:

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“That’s how we love this boxing. In your heart you know I was winning the fight. But it’s okay. It’s part of the game.”

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But this isn't "part of the game" like flopping in basketball and soccer. This is stealing a victory from someone in one fell swoop.

There are only three judges who determine an entire bout. Therefore, only two have to be misguided (or susceptible to outside influences) to alter the course of history. That's why it's absolutely essential to pick these judges well, particularly in a bout sporting a legend.

It's safe to say judges Duane Ford and C.J. Ross were misguided when they gave Bradley a 115-113 advantage on Saturday. No matter how they try to spin it, practically the entire country disagrees with them. There is no excuse for what they did.

Pacquiao, the humble and respectable fighter that he is, admirably bit his tongue when the decision was announced before him on Saturday at the MGM Grand. But he knows, and we know, that controversial decisions as staggering as this should never be "part of the game," nor should they be accepted as such. When almost every media member at ringside gives the bout convincingly to Pacquiao, and the judges go a different route, that goes beyond being misguided - it's flat-out wrong.

Pacquiao has 60 career professional fights to his name. He knows as well as anybody the inner workings of boxing. He knows how it works, the unnecessary dangers surrounding him and what to look for. 

Perhaps that is why Pacquiao wasn't as shocked as everybody else on Saturday. He knew it wasn't out of the question to flip a decision on a whim.

But the boxing world cannot accept this, nor can Pacquiao. The outrage we feel now, the outrage of feeling cheated, cannot rest. We must let the crooks in boxing know that this needs to stop. And we can do that by turning our backs on the sport until it shows signs of emerging out of the gutter.

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