Thomas Hauser's perspective on Pacquiao-Bradley

If there's one writer I halfway respect or pay attention to when an article is presented to me, it's Thomas Hauser...and guess what?...he scored the fight for Bradley... Here's some excerpts from his take...link to full story below... A wave of outrage has swept over the boxing community with regard to the scoring of the June 9th fight between Manny Pacquiao and Tim Bradley. The overwhelming majority of fans, writers, and commentators who watched the fight thought that Pacquiao was a clear winner. Jerry Roth agreed that Pacquiao had won, although his 115-113 scorecard was closer than many observers thought appropriate. Duane Ford and C. J. Ross ignited a firestorm of protest, scoring the bout 115-113 in favor of Bradley. I’m poor candidate to audition for the Greek chorus. On fight night, sitting in row E of the press section, I thought the decision could have gone either way. And I scored the fight 115-114 for Bradley. Was I wrong? Later in this article, I’ll recount the thoughts I had after watching a replay of the fight. For now, let’s put Pacquiao-Bradley in perspective. The first two rounds of Pacquiao-Bradley were closely contested with all three judges splitting them evenly between the fighters. According to CompuBox, Pacquiao outlanded Bradley 11-to-10 in the first stanza, but I gave that round to Bradley because I thought he fought more effectively. Pacquiao dominated rounds three through six of what was then an exciting action fight. Bradley fired back when hit and pumped punches to the body when Manny tried to tie him up on the inside. But Pacquiao scored more effectively, particularly when punches were fired in bunches. “He was fast,” Bradley acknowledged afterward. “And he stunned me a couple of times in there.” In round five, I made two notes: “Bradley more respectful now of Pacquiao’s power . . . Can Manny keep it up for twelve rounds? If so, he wins.” In round six, I wrote, “Pacquiao looks very good . . . Pacquiao unloading . . . Bradley walks to his corner at end of round with a weary discouraged look.” At that point, I had Pacquiao ahead 59-55 (the same score as Jerry Roth). Duane Ford and C.J. Ross had it 58-56. Then, in my eyes (and also in the eyes of all three judges), the momentum of the fight changed. Before the fight, Bradley had said, “I’m a rough fighter. I come in aggressively. There will be no time off. I’ll be fighting sixty seconds of every minute, three minutes of every round.” But he’d also acknowledged, “Pacquiao hits hard, so I’ll feel him out and see what he really has. If he does have power, then I’ll have to be smarter in there and outbox this guy.” In round seven, Bradley started boxing. From that point on, I thought he controlled the pace of the fight. Round eight: “Bradley boxing more now. Not pushing the pace . . . Pacquiao taking the round off. Looks a bit tired.” Round nine: “Some good flurries both ways . . . Bradley looks stronger and digging deeper . . . Pacquiao may be losing his power.” Round ten: “Pacquiao moving forward, but Bradley countering well.” Round eleven: “Pacquiao throwing one punch at a time.” Round twelve: “After an impressive start, Manny has looked ordinary the second half of the fight.” When I tallied my score, I’d given Bradley five of the last six rounds with one round even for a 115-114 scorecard in Tim’s favor. Beneath those numbers, I wrote, “Pacquiao outfought Bradley the first half of the fight. Bradley outboxed Pacquiao in the second half. Manny at his best always finished strong. This time, he didn’t. Like the Marquez fight, he wasn’t willing to walk through fire in the late rounds to win.” Duane Ford and C. J. Ross scored the fight 115-113 in Bradley’s favor. Jerry Roth scored it 115-113 for Pacquiao. Looking at the round-by-round punch-stats after the fight, I questioned my scoring of several rounds. When I watched the replay, I could see how a majority of observers scored the bout for Pacquiao. Duane Ford and C.J. Ross didn’t have the benefit of hindsight. I think they’re honest judges, and I don’t think the decision was a “robbery.” http://www.secondsout.com/columns/thomas-hauser/pacquiao-bradley-in-perspective I personally thought it was an easy to judge Draw that could have gone either way...a Decision that will always be remembered as going BRADLEY's way... It's in the books. Timothy Bradley SD12 Manny Pacquiao.