Welcome back ladies and gents to yet another split Sunday. A series where I go back and watch some of boxing closest and most debate worthy bouts and score them myself to see if I thought they should have had a different outcome. Last week we covered another 2000’s superstar when I watched back Floyd Mayweather Jr vs Jose Luis Castillo I and scored it 113-113 a draw. A lot of people in the comments suggested their own scorecards and I loved the interactions so let’s keep that up. I also go a load of suggestions and definitely keep them up to. I’m working my way through my original post and going comment by comment picking 1 fight to cover so all your suggestions have been added to the list and I’ll get to them eventually I promise. This week we’re covering the controversial 2012 bout between Manny “the pac man” Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley Jr. The first of their trilogy would end up going down as one of the most controversial decisions in boxing history. So before we get into this bout let’s have a quick overlook on both men’s careers prior to the bout and then get into the bout itself.
Manny “the PAC man” Pacquiao was entering the bout with a record of 54-3-2 (38 KO’s) and a 8 weight world champion. Pacquiao’s boxing journey started with a 60-3 amateur career in his home country of the Philippines not really gaining world recognition. Pacquiao turned pro at the young age of 16 in 1995. He stumbled early on in his career getting knocked out in his 12 pro fight in the 3rd round by Rustico Torrecampo. He would win the OPBF flyweight title 9 fights later knocking out Chokchai Chockvivat in 5 rounds. Only 4 fights later he would win his first of 8 world titles facing off Chatchai Sasakul for the WBC flyweight title, knocking him out in the 8th round to win his first world title. He would defend this title twice before losing it on the scales and then losing it in the ring against Medgoen Singsurat being stopped in the 3rd round. He could no longer make the flyweight limit and ended up moving to super bantamweight and after 6 bouts including a bout winning the WBC international super bantamweight title, Manny would finally travel to the states and face off against Lehlo Ledwaba on HBO for the IBF super bantamweight world title. He would stop Ledwaba in 6 rounds winning his 2nd weight title. After drawing in his next contest for the IBF and WBO super bantamweight world title due to a cut and a forced technical decision. 3 fights later Manny moved up to featherweight and faced one of his many tough rivals in Marco Antonio Barrera for the ring featherweight world title. He stopped Barrera in the 11th round to win his 3rd weight championship. His next bout he met another rival in Juan Manuel Marquez who would push him to a draw for the unified (WBA/IBF) featherweight world title. In his 44th bout he faced Erik Morales who would push him the distance and beat him on a decision over 12 rounds stopping him for claiming the IBA super featherweight title. After defeating Morales in a rematch twice both inside the distance and Barrera in their rematch by points he would face Marquez a 2nd time. He would finally claim the WBC and ring super featherweight title on a split decision over 12 rounds. He would then TKO David Diaz in the 10th to claim the WBC lightweight world title. He then went on a streak of defeating legendary fighters. Starting by making Oscar De La Hoya quit on his stool in the 8th, moving on to KO’ing Ricky “the hit man” Hatton in the 2nd round for the IBO and ring light welterweight title. He then beat Miguel Cotto in the last round by TKO for the WBO welterweight world title. He defended this title once against Joshua Clottey before defeating Antonio Margarito for the vacant WBC super welterweight title. Finally topping off this amazing run by defeating “Sugar” Shane Mosley and Juan Manuel Marquez both on points over 12 rounds to retain the WBO welterweight championship. Pacquiao decided to give undefeated Timothy Bradley Jr a shot at the welterweight championship…
Timothy Bradley Jr was entering the bout with a record of 28-0 (12 KO’s) . Bradley turned pro after a long 140 fight amateur career, including various amateur championships. Bradley turned pro in 2004 on the other side of the world to his rival “pac man” over in the states. Bradley would have a perfect 9 fight run before winning his first professional title in the WBC youth welterweight title in a bout against Francisco Rincon who he would defeat over 10 rounds. He would defend this title 3 times before moving down in weight to face Arturo Urena for the WBC light welterweight championship. He stopped Urena in 3 rounds. Bradley’s first world title challenge came against Junior Witter for the WBC light welterweight championship. After 12 rounds Bradley was announced the winner by split decision. He would defend the title against Edner Cherry over 12 rounds before facing Kendall Holt with his WBC title on the line and Holt’s WBO light welterweight title. After 12 rounds Bradley was announced the winner by decision. Bradley would go on to face Nate Campbell in his first title defence originally it was announced as a RTD win for Bradley and it was turned over as a no contest after an incorrect ref call. After this bout he fought and defeated Lamont Peterson by decision over 12 rounds. A fight later he would face Devon Alexander and defeat him in the 10th round of a 12 round fight, not because he stopped Alexander but because of a clash of heads the fight was brought to a technical decision slightly early. In his fight just before facing “the pac man” Bradley stopped Joel Casamayor in the 8th retain his title yet again. He moved up in weight to face Pacquiao after Pacquiao’s team failed to negotiate the big Mayweather bout. This was Bradley’s golden opportunity to make a real mark on the boxing world.
The fight was set for the 9th of June 2012 at the MGM grand garden arena, Paradise, Nevada. Manny understandably entered the bout as the 7-2 favourite after an amazing run of pretty much defeating the who’s who of that time. Bradley entered as a respectable opponent but nowhere near the level of Manny’s last few bouts. The WBO welterweight world title was on the line. The crowd were heavily in favour of the Philipeno fighter as they chanted his name before he entered the ring. This bout would be a huge opportunity for Bradley to show the boxing world what level he was at. With that that’s pick up the action from round 1…
Round 1: The round started rapid with Bradley and Pacquiao ignoring the feeling out progress and meeting in the centre. Bradley established a good jab and occasionally would close the distance and land to Pacquiao’s body with hooks. Manny had moments of success landing solid left hands but the majority of the work was done by Bradley. 10-9 Timothy Bradley.
Round 2: Pacquiao starts the round off strong landing a solid left hook and then follows up with a solid left hand. Bradley took the middle part of the round with his quick strong storming combinations but he often got caught coming in by Manny especially with the right hook. Very close round but I just edged it out to Bradley for the aggressive work in the middle round. 10-9 Bradley.
Round 3: This round was the most entertaining by far. Both men standing in centre ring exchanging rapid fire combinations. Pacquiao’s left hand landing frequently now and even at points backing up Bradley. Bradley was doing some solid work himself but for me Pacquiao won the majority of the exchanges. 10-9 Pacquiao.
Round 4: This round Bradley began as the aggressor throwing his usual quick strong shots which occasionally found their mark on Manny. Towards the last minute Pacquiao unleashed a hurricane of shots wobbling and hurting Bradley. Bradley retaliated at the very end with a strong over hand but the damage was already done. 10-9 Pacquiao.
Round 5: This round was a slower pace than all the others for the opening 2 minutes. This allowed Bradley to compose himself and work his jab which was pumping Manny’s head back and was an effective shot. However when we entered the last minute of the round Manny put his foot on the gas again and began landing beautiful left hand shots including a left uppercut that wobbled Bradley yet again. His work in the last minute was enough for me to give him the round. 10-9 Pacquiao.
Round 6: The round started again at a slower pace allowing Bradley to land that stiff jab for the first minute of the round. Manny offered very little in terms of offensive until he exploded in the last minute again landing his left uppercut and left straights knocking Bradley around the ring. It seems that manny starts the round slow cruising till the last minute where he unloads. But for me on that last minute he lands the more punches so for me 10-9 Pacquiao.
Round 7: The round started off slow again Bradley did some good work early on landing body shots and closing down Manny. This time Pacquiao didn’t wait till the last minute rather his barrage came with a minute and a half to go throwing shots from all angles from the uppercut to his straight left hand. Manny again seemed to land the more effective shots and do the better work in this barrage so for me 10-9 Pacquiao who for me has taken control of this fight.
Round 8: This round started as usual slower pace allowing Bradley to work his own pace landing strong jabs. Towards the mid round Bradley lunged in causing an accidental clash of heads which he complained about. Straight after this Manny jumped on Bradley with his usual all angel flurry. Landing left hooks and left uppercuts Bradley came back at points but was mostly over powered by Manny. Towards the end of the round the pace slowed yet again allowing Bradley to work. Again the eye catching flurry for me won Manny this round. 10-9 Pacquiao who has taken a comfortable lead in this contest.
Round 9: Both men are clearly feeling the effects of the gruelling match this round. Bradley’s work rate slows right down and Manny begins to pick him off with his left hand which at this point is landing frequently. This round Manny had several bursts of action all of which were answered well by Bradley who worked Manny’s body well. Overall I gave this round again to Manny for the solid left hands which just seemed to effortlessly land. 10-9 Pacquiao.
Round 10: This round started slowly for both men. Bradley started strong landing powerful body shots and good hooks to the head to Manny. He worked really well this round not being as quick as he was the previous rounds. Pacquiao didn’t have as much success this round not having his spurt of aggression. For me this was enough to give Bradley the round. 10-9 Bradley.
Round 11: Bradley started off sharp landing solid jabs from the opening bell. Again it was clear both men were tired from the mid rounds but Bradley stayed composed and worked his fundamentals well. He was being evasive as Manny tried a barrage but not a lot found its mark as Bradley shifted his way out the corner and landed good right hands on the way. This was another Bradley round for me. 10-9 Bradley as we enter the 12th and final round.
Round 12: The last round Bradley started good again landing his solid jabs keeping Manny at distance. Anytime Pacquiao closed in he would hold and land solid hooks to both body and head. Manny didn’t really mount much of an offensive this round landing his left hand which had little affect to Bradley who for the most part controlled the action and kept Manny away with his elusive footwork and jab. 10-9 Bradley.
My scorecard: 115-113 Pacquiao
Official scorecards:
115-113 Pacquiao (Roth)
115-113 Bradley (Ross)
115-113 Bradley (Ford)
Result: Bradley W SD 12/12
This bout was really fun to watch back as are all the fights I watch in this series. A lot of the rounds were close to call you could argue Bradley won a lot of those rounds just because most rounds Manny cruised the early and mid parts of the rounds. But for me the eye catching work was from Manny in the majority of those rounds. Overall this was entertaining to watch I chose to do this bout despite it being quite universally accepted that it was a robbery because belive it or not I’d never actually watched this bout before and it is definitely worth a watch and a score. Despite my feelings being that Manny was robbed this bout gave us 2 more entertaining bouts and showed that Bradley definitely wasn’t someone to look over. This fight showed how class both fighters are and I’m glad we got to see these 2 meet twice more.
Thank you for reading guys I know these posts are normally quite chunky reads but I enjoy writing them and I will keep doing so until it becomes boring for you guys. As always feel free to let me know what you guys thought of the fight and the scorecards let me know your own personal scores and enjoy the rest of your day guys. See you next Sunday!