Manny Pacquiao: WBO Decision Proves Timothy Bradley Unworthy of a Rematch

The World Boxing Organization rescored Manny Pacquiao’s bout against Timothy Bradley and declared Pacquiao the victor by unanimous decision. Now, Pac-Man has nothing left to prove by fighting Bradley again. 

According to Gareth A. Davies of The Telegraph, the five judges used by the WBO scored the fight 115-111, 116-112, 117-111, 118-110 and 117-111. The organization does not have the power to officially overturn the result.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission is the only body that can change the decision, and it has no plans to do so, as noted in Davies’ article.

The official result is irrelevant if boxing experts and fans agree almost unanimously that it was completely misguided. 

Pacquiao knows he won the fight and was significantly better than Bradley. According to the CompuBox punching statistics, Pacquiao landed more total punches, jabs and power punches than Bradley and did so at a higher percentage.

He also outpunched Bradley in 10 of the 12 rounds.

There simply is no way to view this fight and determine Bradley the winner. How and why two of three judges reached their decision is bewildering.

But the WBO’s rescoring of the fight is the most Pacquiao can hope for. The NSAC will not conduct an internal investigation into its own judges, and the Filipino fighter can take solace in the fact that other professional judges saw what everyone else saw. 

It is time for the true welterweight champion to move on from this incident.

Fighters like Floyd Mayweather Jr., Juan Manuel Marquez and Victor Ortiz are all more worthy of fighting Pacquiao than Bradley is. 

Mayweather may be the only fighter on the planet that is better than Pac-Man, while Marquez has always had Pacquiao’s number. The Mexican has roughed him up in their three previous bouts, although he has never won.

Ortiz is a young and exciting fighter who has 29 wins and 22 knockouts.

All three of these fighters would beat Bradley in a bout, and all would give Pacquiao a significantly better challenge. 

Pacquiao needs to count his fight against Bradley as a win and move on. That is what everyone but the NSAC has done.