DID BRADLEY’S STORY INFLUENCE THE JUDGES?
Boxing has yet again experienced a controversial decision with Timothy Bradley being gifted a decision over Manny Pacquiao. Much has been said about the decision. First and foremost, it was a poor decision, but we have to accept that boxing is one of the most opinionated sports out there and when it goes to the judges scorecards, we are relying on their opinion.
Conspiracy theories are rife. Whenever we see a bad decision, there will always be conspiracy theorists. Are we right to think so? Perhaps. Perhaps not. However, in this writers opinion a fix here just does not make sense to me. Timothy Bradley is not a draw in this sport. He will never have the fan base or drawing power of a Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquaio. It makes no sense to have this fight fixed in favour of Bradley.
Sure, there is an argument against that. Manny is nearing the end of his career. Maybe Bob Arum wants a new ‘cash-cow’ and sees Bradley as that man. People will say Bob Arum is conning the fans by having this fight again in November. Personally, I don’t buy that. Manny would have been fighting in November again regardless of the outcome of this fight, and we would have bought it.
In short, it was poor judging. It is nothing new either. But it has lead me to form a theory. A theory which is perhaps only specifically suited to this fight: The HBO 24/7 series.
How has the 24/7 series played a part in this fight?
Well, it was the first time Bradley had been under the spot-light. The first time he had the chance to tell his story to the watching world. And, perhaps, the watching judges.
Bradley handled himself incredibly well in the series. He came across as a very likeable character. His story was a somewhat inspiring one. There was more than a few people rooting for Bradley to win in this fight because of his story. We all love an underdog story so naturally Bradley had the backing of a majority of fans. And, again, maybe the judges.
See what I’m getting at?
This isn’t a knock on 24/7. It is just an alternative thought process as to why the judges scorecards favoured Bradley.
For an example, we all have a fighter who we love. Whether we love that fighter for his talent, because he is a guy from the same town as you, or simply because you just straight up think the fighter is a nice guy and want him to win. Because of those points mentioned, one may naturally favour that fighter in close rounds.
Is it possible the judges have done so with this fight? Perhaps judges C.J Ross and Duane Ford were inspired by Bradley’s story and ultimately developed a strong likening for him. This, in turn, affected their judgement in the close rounds of the fight.
This is not a defence of the judges. Far from it. A judge must be impartial and not develop a favourite in a fight solely based on that fighters story.
Again, this is just an alternative thought as opposed to crying conspiracy.
Bad judging happens in sport. It’s not nice and it’s one of the big downsides to the sport of boxing. Will it improve? In this writers opinion, no. Boxing is the most opinionated sport there is. That alone means we will continue to have disagreements on how a fight is scored.
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Okay!! I much believe someones conspiracy then that load of B.S you just offered. LMAO Man get real son! I been watching boxing my hole life and yes fights sometimes get’s fix. Their is no secret about it other then the insiders. We have seen bad decisions before and when boxing had a chance to correct the problem they never do.. There is a reason for that an nothing has change has it. You can name many fight out there were fighters having simply gotten robbed and No questions asked.Keep living and you will see ain’t nothing impossible.
Soclear is so stupid. Everything is a conspiracy to you. You’re a narrow minded peace of shit. You walk down the street, trip over your own feet, and you call it a conspiracy. You take a shit, run out of paper, and you call it a conspiracy. You have been possessed by WWE. Get off of it son.
If you believe it’s BS then fair enough, that’s your opinion.
I’m just putting the thought out there and asking the question is it possible?
Doesn’t mean I necessarily think it’s true, but do I believe it’s possible? Yes.
Judges are only human.
you writed kill me conjuring up therioes knoin dam well the truth but afraid to admit it tryin to stay politaclly correct the figbt was a fix .cmon boxings biggest loses a decision in vegas cmon . stum fixed the fight in order to tie manny into a rematch and marqhez figb
uez fight avoiding floyd. and u kno becuz floyd was vehemntky calling out manny more thn ever . so arum flexed his muscle .thn sYing he wabhe wants the decision looked at bs . its kinda like a guh tht ribs u thn helps u look for youre stuff . paq and brad are gkld guys tht just got used
well many do believe that when Calzaghe and Hopkins fought, because Hopkins stated “he’d never lose to a white boy”, the judges were biased against him and gave the victory to Calzaghe. Could just as easy be the same here. Also Calzaghe should of lost that fight.
I agree with that… I was not far from the ring last saturday and I saw Pacquiao winning by 2. It was a bad decision but not the worst ever like some people said. Only this year, I think that Rios-Abril and Cloud-Campillo were far worst!!! More than criticize the judges, we have to question ourselves with the Top Rank politics… More than new regulations about the judging system, we need more clarity about the promotion… Those last years, Arum just putted his own fighters one against the other, and that is not good for boxing… And for the HBO comentars, I think they were ridiculous. By the way I saw Jim Lampley talk with Bob Arum in a corner of the press center the day before, and Arum is very persuasive guy. I just question the independance of some journalists sometimes!
Agreed. Well said.
While I don’t think Bradley won the fight. I can see how judges could score it this way. I do think the fight was very close. The only rounds Bradley looked like he was in trouble was 3 and 4. But, each round is judged individually. Bradley definitely won the first and 10-12 (the championship rounds). Then there were about 4 rounds that were toss ups. Bradley did nothing spectacular and neither did Pacquiao. The fight was close, get over it. Pacquaio lost this fight due to his inactivity, not bc Bradley did something special. Let’s face it, he’s not the same guy that crushed ODLH, Hatton, or Cotton. He looked suspect against Clottey, Marquez, and Moseley. The outcome shouldn’t be that surprising. And, don’t let HBO commentators fool you…hell they made you think Mayweather – Cotto was close. If you watch the British broadcast they had Mayweather winning the first 6 rounds. I am just saying…
agreed TMAY. The commentators on PrimeTime in this one was appalling. Amir Khan was ok, but the main commentator and Wayne McCulloch were embarrassing. Any time Bradley done some good work, they conveniently decided to discuss other things and engage in conversation, only once did they mention a great shot by Bradley. It was appalling.
The HBO commentators were not much better. It is like everyone assumed Pacquiao was going to dominate this fight. Even HBO was giving the 1st round to Bradley and then Pacquiao connected with 1 good combination of punches and they were ready to give the round to Pacquiao due to a flurry in the last 10 seconds of the round. It was like if Pacquiao had one good flurry of punches in a particular round then the commentators would just give him the round and ignore the other 2:45 seconds of the round that Bradley held Pacquaio in check due to his highly effective jab. Bradley did not hurt Pacquiao, TRUE. But, look at Bradley at the end of the fight…no swelling, bruises, or cuts. Pacquiao did not hurt him, either.
ok so lets be honest how many of you think Bradley actually won the fight? because I only saw 2 maybe 3 rounds that were close that i gave to Bradley.
PS not a Pac fan Marquez all the way!!!!!
Pacquiao won the fight. Without Question….BUT except for rounds 3/4/6 all other rounds were close rounds. Bradley won 4 rounds for me…he took the first, and 10,11,12, he also had a strong round in round 7. But he did not win the fight.
does the writer doesnt have knowledge in this????? new jersey state has better reputatiion… nevada should follow:
Three judges banned by state
The fallout from the controversial decision in the Paul Williams-Erislandy Lara junior middleweight bout continued Wednesday when the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board took the highly unusual action of indefinitely suspending the three judges who worked the 12-round bout.
Williams was given a heavily criticized majority decision victory Saturday night as judges Hilton Whitaker (115-114) and Don Givens (116-114) scored for him, while Al Bennett (114-114) had the HBO-televised main event at Boardwalk Hall’s Adrian Phillips Ballroom a draw.
What a load of BS theory out there Billy. Do you really believed that three Stooges, Old, Blind mice judges will fit into your theory.
All 3 judges scored for Bradley. Roth’s score (15-13 for Pacman) wasn’t even close to the actual fight.
Enough of this BS theory of yours.
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Please watch the fight in Silence….I no longer believe on compubox….Bradley landed more jabs and body shots. Manny was missing punches he was getting credit for and all he was able to land everynow and then was the str8 left…thats it maybe one body shot. when I watched it live I was guided by the commentators to a clear victory by manny. when I watched with no sound I had it a draw…with the middle rounds as a toss up (either way)…
Deric….. Excellently said. I tweeted it a lot during the fight, that Pacquiao was getting credit for things he wasn’t landing.
Early in the fight, they kept showing replay after replay applauding Pacquiao with a straight left hand that snapped Bradley’s head back, but not once did they mention the fact that at the same time Pacquiao connected so did Bradley and also snapped Pacquiao’s head back.
Very bias commentry. I watched it on prime time. And have been calling for people to watch the fight in silence.
Well said.
The show happened within the Top Rank stable and obviously the judges were influenced by Bob Arum himself.Bob Arum is a sure winner,the only thing he can do is to call for a comical investigation to the match.While Bob Arum is wise to create boxing stunts to his own advantage,the history of boxing and legacy of other boxing greats is also dragged into it’s lowest level.Because the sport is already perceived as boxing fixed match.