Luke Thomas, who is a good friend of this site, former editor at Bloody Elbow, now at MMA Fighting and the senior editor of combat sports at SB Nation (the company which owns Bad Left Hook) gives his take on last night's Pacquiao vs Bradley controversy for SBN Studios:
Having now reviewed the fight once in full, and going over rounds I thought were tight (and the fifth round, which wasn't, but somehow managed to be scored to Bradley on two of three judges' scorecards), I can say with genuine certainty that I 100% believe this fight was a robbery, that Manny Pacquiao won this fight without any question whatsoever, and that I have no disagreements with what Luke says in the video.
It might as well be me talking, except his beard's better than mine, which is currently out of control and won't be trimmed until April 2013 as I have accepted a challenge ... from myself.
I'll have a bit more on my thoughts after my second viewing and some extra focus, but Jesus -- this is just an awful job by judges C.J. Ross and Duane Ford, who won't be held accountable, won't be questioned, won't be "investigated" or any of that. The Nevada State Athletic Commission cannot be expected to do anything about this. And as Luke says, this is supposed to be one of the premier athletic commissions in boxing and MMA.
Dana White of UFC had some thoughts on that last night via Twitter. Allow me to share those:
Nevada state athletic commission at its finest!!! Youve for to be fucking kidding me!! that is disgusting Nevada state athletic commission!!
— Dana White (@danawhite) June 10, 2012
Worst athleticcommission in the country!!!!!!!!!!!!
— Dana White (@danawhite) June 10, 2012
Now, let's be up front: It is not even close to the worst athletic commission in the country. West Virginia and other places like that are woefully inept, and then there's Texas, and, well, this could go on too long if I really wanted to get into it.
But the thing is, for a commission that has the power and influence that Nevada does, this kind of thing happens too often, with nothing done about it. This commission has to start giving real answers to questions eventually. Something has to be done, or the skepticism surrounding them is going to continue to grow, until eventually, it might fly out of their control.
Anyway, stick around. We'll have more, and more, and more, and more...
Pacquiao vs Bradley Results
Bradley SD-12 Pacquiao | Arce NC-2 Rojas
Bailey TKO-11 Jones | Rigondeaux TKO-5 Kennedy
Post-Fight Fallout
Arum 'Ashamed' of Boxing | Judges Scorecards (Photo)
Full Fight Video Highlights | Manny Wants Rematch in Vegas