Bradley stops Pacquiao’s 7-year unbeaten streak

Timolthy Bradley lived up to his earlier promise by beating Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines in the boxing world welterweight championship match held on Sunday (June 10 by KST) at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.

However, the result was controversy and the crowd at the MGM Grand arena booed at the split decision. Pacquiao also seemed stunned when the result of the decision was announced. Pacquiao appeared to dominate Bradley during the fight but the judges felt otherwise.

Two of the judges scored the fight 115-113 for Bradley while the other judge had it 115-113 for Pacquaio. After the announcement of the decision, most of the sold-out crowd voiced their displeasure.

The decision ended a 15-fight winning streak by Pacquiao from 2005 that turned him into a boxing superstar and made him a national hero in the Philippines. With the win, Bradley remains unbeaten with 29 wins. Most of the spectators seemed believed before the match that Pacquiao would win the bout considering the fact that he was the world’s best fighter.

Bradley came on strong in the later rounds, winning five of the last six rounds on two scorecards and four on the third. He won 115-113 on two scorecards, while losing on the third by the same margin. The Associated Press had Pacquiao winning 117-111.

Pacquiao tried to turn the fight into a brawl, using his power to hurt Bradley in the early rounds. But Bradley changed tactics in the middle rounds and used his boxing skills to win enough rounds to take the narrow decision for the welterweight title.

“I did my best,” Pacquiao said. “I guess my best wasn’t good enough.”

“I thought I won the fight,” Bradley said. “I didn’t think he was as good as everyone says he was. I didn’t feel his power.”

Ringside punching statistics showed Pacquiao landing 253 punches to 159 for Bradley, who vowed before the fight to take the 147-pound title from Pacquiao. The Compubox statistics showed Pacquiao landing more punches in 10 of the 12 rounds.

Pacquiao said he studied Bradley on tape before the fight and wasn’t surprised by anything he did. He said he thought he was in control of the fight and was shocked when the decision went against him.

“He never hurt me with his punches, most of them landed on my arms,” Pacquiao said.

 It was the biggest fight of Bradley’s career and it came with a minimum $5 million payday. The rematch will be even richer, though Pacquiao’s loss could damage any plans for a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. who counldn’t see the fight because he is serving a sentence on a domestic abuse charge at a jail a few miles from the MGM Grand. (Compiled from foreign media)

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