Pacquiao vs. Bradley Results: Investigation of Controversial Decision Won't Help

Things that have already been done cannot be changed.

That's what the sport of boxing should realize in the wake of the controversial decision that awarded Timothy "Desert Storm" Bradley a split decision victory over Manny Pacquiao.

More specifically, promoter Bob Arum should realize that.

According to ESPN's Dan Rafael, Arum has recently submitted a formal request to the office of Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto for a "full and complete inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the scoring" of the fight.

He also said this, as per the above ESPN report:

"

What the hell were these people watching? ... How can you watch a sport where you don't see any motive for any malfeasance and yet come up with a result like we came up with tonight. How do you explain it to anybody?

"

So, tell us how you really feel, Bob.

This is a good chance to help boxing save face after an abhorrent decision made by the ringside judges, but it won't change anything in the long run.

All an investigation will do is give boxing fans something to talk about. People are outraged, and rightfully so, but an investigation won't change the result of the fight.

What could possibly be found out by investigators? Duane Ford and C.J. Ross, the two judges who scored the fight 115-113 for Bradley, are highly unlikely to admit that they colluded with outside parties.

Highly...highly unlikely.

So where does the investigation committee go from there? That will be what it has to figure out. Presumably, it would check the bets placed on both fighters and see if there were any irregularities. 

But if there were betting irregularities, surely we would have heard about it already. 

Either way, it won't change what happened in the fight.

Bradley's career will be forever intertwined with what happened at the MGM Grand on June 9. If he goes on a run through multiple weight classes and doesn't lose a fight for the next few years, it won't matter because people will always say that he didn't deserve to win that fight against Pacquiao.

The blemish on Pacquiao's win-loss (most likely) record won't go away upon investigation.

Not that it matters because nobody is holding it against him. It wasn't like his win against Juan Manuel Marquez where the judges could have feasibly went either way, this was a decision that was so clearly wrong that there's no need to argue.

Despite the minimal effect the prospective investigation will have, Arum seems like he's going to go through with it.

If Arum is interested in protecting the integrity of the sport of boxing, he'd be wise to wait and see if the public fury about this decision subsides anytime soon.