USA: BOXING: Manny Pacquiao loses to Timothy Bradley in a split decision; after the upset, fighters plan quick rematch

Record ID: 375585

  • Title: USA: BOXING: Manny Pacquiao loses to Timothy Bradley in a split decision; after the upset, fighters plan quick rematch
  • Date: 11th June 2012
  • Summary: MANNY PACQUIAO WALKING TO PODIUM
  • Embargoed: 26th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA31F54F4DV5LAWLSFF46KJAA1M
  • Story Text: U.S. fighter Timothy Bradley stunned Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines on Saturday (June 9) by gaining his WBO welterweight title in a controversial split decision in Las Vegas.
    Pacquiao's promoter disputed the decision, and the judges' credentials, after the fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
    It was Pacquiao's first defeat since he lost to Erik Morales in Las Vegas in March 2005, ending a run of 15 consecutive wins by the Filipino who has won world titles in an unprecedented eight weight divisions.
    "Desert Storm" Bradley, a 5-1 underdog against Pacquiao, improved his record to 29-0 with 12 knockouts, while Pacquiao slipped to 54-4-2 with 38 knockouts.
    While Pacquiao used flurries of punches on his opponent, Bradley changed tactics and used jabs to increase his score.
    Judge Jerry Roth (115-113) awarded the fight to Pacquiao while CJ Ross (113-115) and Duane Ford (113-115) gave it to the American, but the crowd responded with boos after 12 rounds which the Filipino had appeared to dominate.
    Veteran promoter Bob Arum was aghast at the scoring.
    "I want to say for myself that I have never been ashamed as much to be associated with the sport of boxing as I am tonight," he said, before launching into criticism of the judging.
    "These people don't know how to score. They really don't. They really don't," Arum said. "Two of the judges were judging fights when I first came to Las Vegas and the truth is that they're too damn old to judge any more. That's the truth. And the third judge, the lady, I don't think she's every done a championship fight before, what the hell were these people, all three of them including the one who called the 7-5 for Pacquiao, what were they looking at?"
    Pacquiao, who holds political office, was more diplomatic after the fight.
    "You know I respect the decision but 100 percent I believe I won the fight," Pacquiao told reporters during the post-fight news conference.
    The Filipono added he wanted to fight Bradley again "to become a warrior in the ring" and finish the whole twelve rounds.
    New welterweight champion Bradley, in a wheelchair after injuring his ankle during the fight, was eager to hold a rematch in November.
    "I'm happy, I'm the new welterweight champion. My team and I, we did it baby and I told you that we were going to shock the world and I definitely would like to do this again," he said, adding: "I heard the boos at the end of the night which is OK but we need to definitely do this again in November and let's make it more decisive for everybody."
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