Kenny Bayless Admits Knockdown Mistake in Pacquiao vs Mosley

Kenny Bayless is one of the finest referees in the sport of boxing, but even the best make mistakes.

Last Saturday night, Bayless called a knockdown against Manny Pacquiao in the 10th round of Pacquiao's bout with Shane Mosley, when from all angles it was an obvious shove from Mosley that put Pacquiao on the canvas. The Filipino superstar seemed genuinely annoyed at the bad call, but at least Bayless knows and admits it was a bad call:

"It was a call I missed," Bayless, 61, told this writer several minutes after Manny Pacquiao was declared winner by unanimous decision in 12 rounds. "I already whispered it to Pacquiao."

Bayless has a pretty excellent track record, so it was particularly bizarre to see him miss something that seemed so totally clear from every single angle that it was shown at on replays, and even from the live camera angle. The audience reacted with disbelief, too, and Pacquiao basically couldn't believe it, then got all mad and tried to attack, but found that Mosley wasn't so willing to mix it up.

I'd also say it's pretty typical -- in a good way, of course -- for Bayless to be the type of guy to admit he made a rare mistake. It does happen sometimes.

By the way, how did you score that round? It appears that the official judges paid it no mind. Duane Ford scored the fight 120-107 for Pacquiao, which is a perfect sheet of 10-9s plus a 10-8 in the third when Pacquiao legitimately knocked down Mosley. I would guess that Dave Moretti (120-108) scored that 10th round a 10-10 round to give credit to the bogus knockdown. And Glenn Trowbridge (119-108) likely gave the round to Mosley, but by a 10-9 score, which would have been the only round he gave to Shane. I just scored it 10-9 Pacquiao because the call was so bad.