By Chris Robinson
Whenever a big fight in the boxing world goes down, I like to make the rounds and get some feedback from the boxing community out here in Las Vegas.
This past weekend, at the MGM Grand, Manny Pacquiao appeared to do enough to claim a victory over the ambitious Tim Bradley. But after twelve rounds, the WBO welterweight title would change hands as Bradley came away with a split-decision verdict after two of the 115-113 scorecards read across the board went in his favor.
Cries of robbery immediately ensued and there has been some serious backlash directed at the decision.
One of those in agreement with the general public is trainer Jeff Mayweather, who took some time to break down the fight.
“I thought it was highway robbery,” Mayweather would tell me on Monday afternoon from the Mayweather Boxing Club. “I actually thought that Pacquiao won at least ten out of twelve rounds. It was hard to give Tim Bradley even two rounds. There were a couple rounds that were just feeling out rounds and I gave those to Bradley. In the tenth round he performed real well, but other than that he was losing.”
Before the fight, Mayweather had given Bradley a good chance at the victory but also added that nothing about the Palm Springs, California fighter really impressed him. After having watched a fight in which he felt Timothy was the clear loser, Mayweather spoke on the skills displayed by Bradley during the fight.
“I think it was pretty obvious his technique was nothing but wild,” said Mayweather. “He did have a good jab. I think Pacquiao is very easy to hit with a jab. That was the only punch he had that was effective. I give [Bradley] credit though, he still had some balls. He stood in there and tried to swap with Pacquiao even though he’s not a puncher. It wasn’t a completely bad performance, it’s just that he was overmatched, that’s all.”
After the fight, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum sounded off on the decision and also revealed that a rematch between the two fighters wasn’t a sure thing because the general public likely won’t be receptive to such a meeting.
That is something that Mayweather is in line with.
“I think that’s true,” Mayweather claimed. “Even when the fight was made it still didn’t do well. They still over 2,000 tickets left. Pacquiao fights normally sell out. Because nobody knows who Bradley is.”
Mayweather did have Pacquiao dominating the fight yet he was quick to stat that he wasn’t really blown away by Manny’s performance in the slightest.
“Nah, he didn’t impress me either,” said Mayweather. “He was dominant, so in that sense he was impressive. But his technique was still wild, still was throwing wild punches. It wasn’t like the Pacquiao of old, so in that since I wasn’t impressed to the level I once was impressed by him.”
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Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He can be reached at Trimond@aol.com, www.Twitter.com/CRHarmony and www.YouTube.com/CRHarmony
