In a stunning decision, unbeaten Timothy Bradley (29-0) won a split-decision victory over eight-time world champion Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2) at the MGM Grand Gardens Arena.
Two
judges scored the WBO welterweight title fight 115-113 for Bradley, who
appeared to be trailing all night. The third judge gave Pacquiao a
115-113 edge.
The results were loudly jeered by a near-capacity crowd in the arena, many of whom stood stunned at their seats.
This L.A. Times writer Kevin Baxter had Bradley 3 rounds and Pacquiao winning the other 9 rounds.
ESPN's Dan Rafael scored the fight Pacquiao 11, Bradley 1.
Fox Sports' Scott Savitz had it 11-1 for Pacquiao.
Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports had it 9-3 Pacquiao.
Nearly everybody on media row, including HBO's Harold Lederman,
scored the bout overwhelmingly for Pacquiao. Lederman had it 119-109.
But the judges at ringside, in a stunning decision, saw it otherwise.
And the crowd let them know how they felt, raining boos as HBO's Max
Kellerman tried to talk to the fighters afterwards.
Top Rank
Chairman Bob Arum came over to media row and said he had it 10 rounds to
2 for Pacquiao, and said even Bradley's manager had it 8-3 for
Pacquiao.
Even Bradley seemed surprised by the decision. He was booed lustily by the crowd after the fight.
''Can you believe that? Unbelievable,'' promoter Bob Arum said. ''I went
over to Bradley before the decision and he said, `I tried hard but I
couldn't beat the guy.'''
"I've never been as ashamed of the sport of boxing as I am tonight," said Arum, who handles both fighters.
"This is a death knell for boxing, and I'm going to make a ton of money on the rematch," Arum said.
Did Bradley know beforehand?
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