Boxing

I love boxing. I've been a huge fan since I was around 5-6 years old, and was just always drawn to it. Over the years, most of my friends lost interest and started getting into MMA stuff, but I just never cared to see wrestling matches glorified as fights, it just bores me. I like the striking of a boxing match. I like the knockout punches, I like all the stuff anyone who likes about boxing does.

But there's a problem. More and more over the years, it has become blatantly obvious how corrupt boxing has become. In the old days, you knew without seeing the score cards who had won the fight. There wasn't controversy like there is today. I can't help but think it all happened when Vegas and Don King got so heavily involved.

The first time I remember this happening, was when Julio Cesar Chavez fought Meldrick Taylor in 1990. I was watching with my dad, who has also been a huge fan as far back as I can remember. Chavez was undefeated at the time, and respected at the time as the best fighter in the world. But we hated him. I don't know what it was, we just didn't like the guy. So we watched Meldrick Taylor methodically assault Chavez for several rounds, and were excited to see Chavez finally be dealt his first loss. Then the unimaginable happened. Chavez landed a shot that caught Taylor off guard, and dazed him badly. Referee Richard Steele, who I would eventually come to loathe as the worst referee in the history of the sport, began doing a standing 8 count. With 2 seconds left in the fight, a fight Taylor had won easily, Richard Steele asked Taylor if he was ok. Taylor simply shook his head yes and held up his gloves. Apparently that wasn't enough to convince Steele that he could last 2 more seconds, and Steele stopped the fight.

In 1993, Pernell Whitaker flew up through the class to become named pound for pound the greatest boxer in the world. Since he was a local guy who we had spent time with over the years, it was huge for us when he scheduled a title fight with 87-0 Julio Cesar Chavez. It was the first time we had ever ordered a Pay-Per-View fight, and we had a huge crowd gathered to watch it. The fight didn't disappoint. Every round, Sweet Pea pounded Chavez mercilessly, and kept the fight from ever being close. It was complete domination, and when that final bell sounded, we were elated that our hometown boy was the first person to ever beat Chavez. But it wasn't meant to be. Our elation quickly turned to shock when the score cards were read. Majority draw. That was the day I lost all faith in the sport of boxing. I knew at that exact moment, when it made me flash back to the Meldrick Taylor fight, that boxing ends the way the money wants it to end.

After that, I still watched boxing. Fights were still good, but I never again got emotionally involved. Since then, things have gotten progressively worse, and boxing has become an embarrassment to itself.

Over the last several years, I have become a very big Manny Pacquiao fan. This has been coupled with my hatred of Floyd Mayweather. I, like many others, have always wished to see a fight between the two, but Mayweather piles excuses to duck him and maintain his perfect record. After the screwing Manny got tonight, I know the fight will never happen.

Tonight, Manny Pacquiao completely dominated a fighter named Timothy Bradley. Anyone who saw the fight, even if they were anti-Manny, will tell you he got screwed as hard as any fighter has been screwed. The stats show that Manny out punched Bradley by nearly a 2:1 ratio, and landed a higher percentage of shots and power shots. Manny was never hurt, and was rarely seen looking like he was exerting himself. Bradley stayed hurt almost from the opening bell, and got shown up the entire fight. It got so bad, that it began to look like Manny let up on him a lot to avoid embarrassing him in a blatantly lopsided bout.

Top Rank official Bob Arum said after the final bell that Manny completely dominated, and he only had Bradley winning 1, possibly 2 of the 12 rounds. All of the ring side announcers had Manny winning 10-11 rounds as well. I personally thought Bradley had only won 1 rounds. Then the score cards were read. Not only did Bradley win the decision, but the judges who scored it in his favor had him winning 7 of the 12 rounds. Impossible. Anyone who watched the fight knows what a farce this was, and probably the final nail in the coffin as far as boxing goes for me. It completely removes any minor speck of credibility the sport had left, and a lot of fans will likely give up on it as I am. Bradley's own trainer in the post fight interview was shocked, and remarked that he himself thought his guy had only won 4 rounds, and couldn't believe the judges scored the way they did, but that he was glad they did.

When a guy's own corner says the opponent got hosed in a title fight, you know it's hit rock bottom.

RIP Boxing. What a sad, pathetic joke you've become.

Extreme said:

Tonight, Manny Pacquiao completely dominated a fighter named Timothy Bradley. Anyone who saw the fight, even if they were anti-Manny, will tell you he got screwed as hard as any fighter has been screwed. The stats show that Manny out punched Bradley by nearly a 2:1 ratio, and landed a higher percentage of shots and power shots. Manny was never hurt, and was rarely seen looking like he was exerting himself. Bradley stayed hurt almost from the opening bell, and got shown up the entire fight. It got so bad, that it began to look like Manny let up on him a lot to avoid embarrassing him in a blatantly lopsided bout.

Bradley's own trainer in the post fight interview was shocked, and remarked that he himself thought his guy had only won 4 rounds, and couldn't believe the judges scored the way they did, but that he was glad they did.

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Pacquiao did not out punch Bradley 2:1 and the punch stats didn't show that. They showed that Pacquiao landed at nearly 2:1. Truth be told, Bradley threw 2:1 compared to Pacquiao and Pacquiao probably only landed 3 to 5 power punches a rd, and that was all he did. How they had Pacquiao landing 160 or 190 power punches and Bradley landing 109 is beyond me. Pacquiao probably landed 60 power punches at most and Bradley landed maybe 20 at most.

I agree almost completely with Bradely's trainer. I thought if you was pro Bradley you could have gave him 3 to 5 rds. Still, even at that the worst, the scorecard should have had it 115-113 Pacquiao. I seen no way to have Bradley winning the fight, but giving Bradley only 1 rd like they were saying on TV was bs also.

From a strategy point of view, i thought Pacquiao screwed up big time. He gave Bradley's counter punching way too much respect and didn't throw nearly enough punches or punch as much as he normally does. I've never seen Pacquiao fight such a defensive fight.

The whole fight was Bradley jabbing and counter punching with pitty pat punches and Pacquiao landing with the ocassional hard 1,2.

Go Deep said:

Pacquiao did not out punch Bradley 2:1 and the punch stats didn't show that. They showed that Pacquiao landed at nearly 2:1.

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Um, when someone says out punching, they're usually referring to punches landed. I never said he threw twice as many punches. Punches that don't land mean nothing, anybody can throw a thousand punches. Not impressive.

Go Deep said:

Truth be told, Bradley threw 2:1 compared to Pacquiao

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A stat that means nothing. Misses don't count, misses don't do damage. When you throw twice as many punches as your opponent, and land half as much, it generally means you didn't put up a good fight, and it almost always means you got your ass kicked.

Go Deep said:

Pacquiao probably only landed 3 to 5 power punches a rd, and that was all he did. How they had Pacquiao landing 160 or 190 power punches and Bradley landing 109 is beyond me. Pacquiao probably landed 60 power punches at most and Bradley landed maybe 20 at most.

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In boxing, any uppercut or cross thrown that lands, no matter how soft, is counted as a power punch. A lot of people mistakenly believe a power punch does a lot of damage, so they look for brutal hits, but that's not how it's scored. I assure you the 190 is pretty accurate.

Go Deep said:

I agree almost completely with Bradely's trainer. I thought if you was pro Bradley you could have gave him 3 to 5 rds. Still, even at that the worst, the scorecard should have had it 115-113 Pacquiao. I seen no way to have Bradley winning the fight, but giving Bradley only 1 rd like they were saying on TV was bs also.

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I can see an argument for giving Bradley 2 rounds, and at a stretch, maybe even 3. But 115-113? You're telling me you think Bradley won 5 rounds? I honestly can't figure out which fight you were watching, unless you're just impressed by flailing punches from a scared fighter that aren't connecting, and give him points for that.

Go Deep said:

From a strategy point of view, i thought Pacquiao screwed up big time. He gave Bradley's counter punching way too much respect and didn't throw nearly enough punches or punch as much as he normally does. I've never seen Pacquiao fight such a defensive fight.

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I agree with this completely. The entire fight, it felt like Manny was getting ready to pounce and end it, and it just never came. It's like he was waiting for something, and it cost him.

Go Deep said:

The whole fight was Bradley jabbing and counter punching with pitty pat punches and Pacquiao landing with the ocassional hard 1,2.

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You call it jabbing, I call it tapping a guy to keep him at bay. He was doing what most guys do to line up for a big shot, only he never got the big shot. It looked like what I would look like if I was in the ring against Tyson - scared ****less. Pacquio boxed way more technically than I have ever seen. He tried a couple of times early on to turn it into a brawl, but you can never accomplish that when the other guy is back pedaling the entire time to run away from you.

The only thing worse than the fight, was the judges. The fact they won't be investigated shows how easily boxing is willing to turn a blind eye to the corruption destroying the sport that they pretend to hate.

Like i said, if you was pro Bradley, i could of gave him one of the 1st 3 rds and i had him winning the last 4rds, not really winning, but he was the best of 2 boxers doing nothing.

Bradley fought just like he's always fought and Pacquiao didn't. Not saying he deserved to lose, but that's what happened. Pacquiao didn't try to mix it up and go to war and let his hands go until the later rounds.

Bradley was eating some hard straight lefts early, but he stayed in the pocket while Manny refused to fight on the inside.

If Pacquiao would have just came out and let his hands go from the start, he would've KO'd Bradley by the 5th( i expect this is what will happen in a rematch), but he didn't do that. Like i said, he gave way too much respect for Bradley's counter punching, when Bradley had no chance of hurting him.

Either way Pacquiao got robbed, but it shouldn't have even went the distance to begin with.

If you like to laugh on twitter, there are a few guys in Mayweather's entourage that are hysterical. Definitely NSFW.

@RealRogerMay
@FloydMayAllday

I didn't watch last night nor do I care much about boxing anymore because it is so corrupt and I am afraid the same thing might be happening in UFC! Manny Pacqiauo lost his last fight out so I wasn't going to waste my time on this fight. I used to think it was all Mayweather, but I am starting to think after Manny's last 2 fights it could have been his camp that was holding things up afraid to fight.

As for your assertion about Meldrick Taylor winning that fight against Chavez, I believe you are off base and so do many, many, many...in fact most pundits. Taylor lost that fight for one reason and one reason only, he failed to acknowledge Steele when Steele was asking him if he was alright. He has admitted as much in interviews, he was looking at his corner for instructions. Why? Could he have continued? Yeah, maybe. Was their corruption in that situation? I don't know, but Taylor could have avoided it if he'd looked Steele in the eyes when asked if he was OK to return to the fight. Taylor failed to do that, he was looking at his corner when he should have been paying attention to Steele. Fight over.

As for the rest of your post... I agree the sport is corrupt and it goes further than Don King. Liston talked about it in his fight against Ali. That's why the sport has lost it's luster. I had followed Manny for a while, from a distance. I watched his previous fight and thought he'd lost that one. I am a true believer that it is incumbent upon the challenger to take the belt away so the Champ gets a close decision, but Marquez did enough to win and got robbed. Because of that, I had no interest in this fight nor will I be watching much boxing in the future. UFC has become what boxing was in the 80' and prior. And if you think MMA is only wrestling, you obviously don't watch anymore. The the last 3 UFC Heavy Weight Championships alone were decided by TKO or KO and didn't even touch the ground, unless someone got knocked down by a strike.

El, google the phrase "Fertitta crime family".

Manny didn't lose his last fight, he won by decision. Ok, I will clarify, he got out boxed, but the idiot judges handed him the fight on the cards, which I also complained about on here when it happened, even though I'm a fan of his. THis fight, he absolutely won it and just flat out got screwed.

As far as Meldrick Taylor, I'm going to find a video for it if there's one out there, and I will post it. Steele asks him if he's ok. Taylor is obviously ready to finish, and flips when Steele stops it. There was 2 seconds left. That though, I do not believe was corruption, that just came down to Steele being the biggest douchebag of a referee. He has stopped a whole lot of fights early over the years, and they almost never should have been stopped. I just think he has a weak stomach, and I'm glad I don't see much of him anymore.

As far as the pundits go, I don't know what you've read, but this is widely regarded as the most controversial ending to a fight in boxing history by many many people in boxing.

Other than Roy Jones getting screwed in the Olympics, this was probably the worst decision ever.

Extreme said:

As far as Meldrick Taylor, I'm going to find a video for it if there's one out there, and I will post it. Steele asks him if he's ok. Taylor is obviously ready to finish, and flips when Steele stops it. There was 2 seconds left. That though, I do not believe was corruption, that just came down to Steele being the biggest douchebag of a referee. He has stopped a whole lot of fights early over the years, and they almost never should have been stopped. I just think he has a weak stomach, and I'm glad I don't see much of him anymore.

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Marquez did not get the decision in that fight but he clearly beat Manny. I hadn't watched a prize fight in years prior to that one so after seeing the way it went down, I am done with boxing again. So I am not commenting on last night's fight. I wouldn't know. I just know that corruption in boxing is too rampant to enjoy the fights. I haven't seen such blatant corruption in the UFC just yet, but there have been a few decision that are making me question them.

As for Taylor-Chavez, you can get the video reel out...I watched it on youtube before I posted so I was sure I remembered it clearly. Steele is looking Taylor right in the eyes asking him if he was ok, you can clearly see Taylor looking at his corner with Steele in his face. He did not acknowledge Steele at all and if look closely enough Taylor's eyes were still glossy. That is all on Meldrick Taylor. And while I agree Steele has been a part of many controversial fights, he is one of the best referees boxing had throughout the 80's and 90's and got that one right. That loss was clearly Taylor's fault and he has admitted as much in interviews.

Go Deep, that was horrific. I think International judging is even worse than pro boxing.

Anyone see the Pacquiao vs. Horn fight last night? Pretty entertaining. Loved the guts and aggression by the relative unknown. If you didn't hear, Horn was given a unanimous decision. Technically, Pacquiao probably won the thing as Horn was swinging wildly for much of the fight. But except for one round (the 9th, where Horn was beaten on badly and the fight almost stopped), it was Horn who pushed Manny around the ring for most of the fight. Some of the announcers, including Stephen A. Smith who I cannot stand, were bemoaning the decision, but I don't personally think it was that controversial That was the only fight of the evening on ESPN that was even worth watching but if you didn't see it, you really missed a good one.