Fraudulent
as his title-taking effort against Manny Pacquiao was, Bradley had always
loomed a strong bet to land a return bout with the Filipino pound-for-pound
boxing marvel.
It
was therefore not easy to believe that Bradley, the unbeaten world welterweight
boxing titleholder, had never stood a solid chance of getting that rematch.
Of
course, it must first be explained here that, based on solid facts and honest
scores (like the Compustats), Bradley should only be plainly called a
titleholder, neither a champion nor a division king.
*
* *
For Mr. Bradley’s elucidation, the WBO welterweight championship was never relinquished by Pacquiao. It was taken by the judges from Pacquiao and gave it to the clear loser, thereby letting Bradley start his dubious rule.
It’s
like this: When three names—Juan Manuel Marquez, Miguel Cotto and Tim
Bradley—were first raffled and shuffled off by Bob Arum’s Top Rank Promotions
for Pacquiao’s next foe, Bradley did appear to own a fairly good chance of
making it.
The
chances then slipped to slim. Next, there was practically none, with Bradley
suddenly out of the picture.
*
* *
Plans
for a Cotto-Pacquiao rematch never really took off, because the Puerto Rican
strongman would never again be caught draining himself to death just to meet
Pacquiao at a very disadvantageous catch weight.
For
his part, Bradley first called Pacquiao scared. When this did not work, he
practically went begging.
Said
the WBO 147-pound titleholder: “This guy (Pacquiao) can choose anyone he wants
to fight, but I don’t know how he can pick anyone other than me. If he wants
the belt back, he has to come through me to get it. He relinquished it to me.
Regardless of what everyone might think of how I beat him, I’ve got a win on my
resume over Manny Pacquiao, and it’s going to be in the history books that
way.”
*
* *
Juan
Manuel Marquez, meanwhile, hardly spoke a word. He just stuck to his claim that
Pacquiao had never beaten him in all their three previous encounters.
Of
course, Dinamita had obviously also gotten tired chasing after the Pacman.
But,
just when he was ready to give up the ghost of ever having a Pacquiao-Marquez
4, the gods of pugilism smiled on Mexico.
In
fact, there were reports the fourth meeting between Pacquiao and Marquez could
yet be staged in Mexico City.
It
could not, however, be confirmed if Bob Arum had already reserved a Dec. 8
fight date at the Las Vegas MGM Grand.
*
* *
Looking
back, Bradley could only have his poor pay-per-view showing to blame.
His
one-sided scuffle with Pacquiao, (with the talkative American on the scared,
cowering end) tallied only a little over 700,000 buys. Pacquiao-Marquez III
sold over 1.4 million subscriptions.
Of
course, it was not all about money.
Although
the Nevada State Athletic Commission did a moral job of ordering a review by a
competent panel which next ruled Pacquiao had clearly beaten Bradley, the
Nevada State Attorney General evidently messed up Bradley’s chances.
The
Attorney General reneged on its moral responsibility to the fight public by
refusing to order the June 9 judges to at least explain and make clarifications
on the strange scoring system they had adopted for the Pacquiao-Bradley fight.
The
system, which evidently scored Pacquiao misses in favor of his scared foe, was
both immoral and absurd.
Pacquiao
has all the honest right to reject Bradley.
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer
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