Running Diary: Manny Pacquiao vs Timothy Bradley Jr.

I figured the fight to be an uneventful one and basically a good test for Manny Pacquiao with his sights fully set on a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. before the End of Days. Well that little dream just evaporated into thin air with Manny losing the WBO Welterweight Title to Timothy Bradley Jr. by split decision on Saturday night. Needless to say the decision is what everyone will be talking about on Monday so let’s go through my running diary of the fight and how I saw it play out.

9:00 P.M.: Well the fight hasn’t started yet & from all the Tweet’s i’m seeing it apparently has to do with Calf Muscles & Manny’s love of the NBA”s Eastern Conference finals score. Luckily I didn’t pay for this fight so it starting an hour late is no big deal and the fact that I don’t have to entertain any people for an extra hour is very awesome.

9:10 P.M.: 1st round finally gets underway. Manny seems to be pretty cautious and Bradley is taking advantage of that by just throwing punches. Bradley is really throwing the left jab and keeping Manny at a distance. If anything, Bradley is the aggressor but nothing is really standing out. With around 10 seconds left, Manny starts a flurry of punches and lands a solid left on Bradley which makes the crowd erupt. Bell rings I’m thinking maybe I give the round to Bradley based on aggression throughout the round even though that late flurry by Manny was pretty solid.

10-9 Bradley

2nd round: Oh crap forgot to look at the clock but round is starting. Action starts slow but at around 2:20 mark, Bradley is able to work Manny against the ropes and then locks him up. Manny doesn’t do a good job of breaking out of clench and Bradley starts throwing some rabbit punches to the body unimpeded for what seemed like 10 seconds. A Manny chant breaks out from the crowd trying to will the champion on. Bradley keeps being the aggressor and with about 50 seconds left lands a solid left. Then before you know it ding. ding end of round. Bradley once again takes round on being aggressive in my book. For some reason Manny looks a little tentative at this point but I figure it’s only round 2 and he’ll start to loosen up.

10-9 Bradley

Did I mention I watched the entire fight on my phone? Yeah F’n technology is awesome!

3rd Round: So 3rd round begins and Manny seems to has found his aggression and is now staring to land to decent shots. Not anything that is putting Bradley away but enough to start taking back the fight. Forgot to look at clock when Manny landed a solid left in the round but waited till about a minute left and started to put the pressure on Bradley by  beginning to throw more punches and flurries. I give the round to Manny decisively he maintained the action and pushed the pace finally.

10-9 Manny

9:25 P.M.:  Oh come on internet stream of the fight, don’t fail me now. I’m getting what I pay for right about now with the choppiness of the fight but it finally comes back in nice & clear about 30 seconds into 4th Round.

4th Round: Manny is landing some pretty solid right hands and its starting to look like whatever Bradley is throwing is not effecting Pacquiao. A lull in the action gets me thinking, some snacks would really hit the spot right now. Mmmmmmmm cheese puffs (Internal Homer voice). 30 seconds left in the round and Manny starts a big flurry of punches that Bradley has to end up clutching him to weather it. Also it looks like Bradley rolled his ankle or something. What do you know, Bradley’s corner verifies my suspicions by saying “Forget about Your FUCKING FOOT!” I give the round to Manny because of flurry.

10-9 Manny

5th Round: Man I really gotta look at the clock. Bradley seems way more tentative in the ring now and is using the left jab to  keep Manny at a distance and from attacking. Uh-Oh, my son is making some noise gotta go make sure he’s still asleep. Luckily I can just take my phone with me to check and boom, still asleep. Action and pace of fight has lowed but with 40 seconds left Manny starts up the pressure again and throws another flurry of punches before the end of the round. Leads to big exchange at end of round with Manny connecting with solid left hook to Bradley’s dome. I give the round to Manny again but really don’t like his flurry for the last 30-40 seconds of the round strategy.

10-9 Manny

9:29 P.M.: Hey there’s Sookie from True Blood in the Audience, it’s weird seeing her with clothes on. Wait why is she wearing clothes and why is she surrounded by Werewolves and Vampires?

6th Round: I got a little bored in this round because both guys were being defensive and really the only guy doing anything in the early part of round was Bradley by throwing the left jab. Also guys in booth( Lampley, Steward, & Kellerman) start bringing up the fact that a lot of the media has been thinking Manny wouldn’t show up for the fight & thus far he has. With  1 minute left in the round, Manny puts the pressure on Bradley and seemingly takes the round.

10-9 Manny

9:33 P.M.: I really wish I spoke Tagalog so I could understand what Manny’s corner guy were saying. Also because I want to know if the interpreter is doing his job or being like the Spanish translator and screwing it all up. Punch, Punch, Move, Punch him more is what the Spanish translator says is going on and is usually 99% inaccurate.

7th Round: Bradley is still continuing to throw punches even though they really don’t have an effect on Manny. At the 2:00 minute marks is a nice little combination Bradley throws. Also Bradley starts to exchange with Manny a little before a minute left which I think is to counter Manny’s trategy of taking the round late. But they get tired and just kinda bounce around for the last 15 seconds. I score the round for Bradley but barely. Mainly because he countered Manny’s strategy and stayed a bit more active then Manny.

10-9 Bradley

9:38 P.M.: Fight is beginning to bore me a little so let’s check on the A’s game. CRAP 6-1 Diamondbacks in the 8th but A’s are threatening. Back to the fight.

8th Round: Bradley gets a warning for a head butt which draws a humongous Booo from the crowd. The headbutt was one of the things that the Pacquiao camp worried about in taking this fight. Definitely a lot more action in the 8th and some really good exchanges between both fighters but Manny takes the round in my eyes. Way more agressive and landed a lot better power shots in round. Also punch stat numbers have Manny throwing 163 punches through 8 Rounds to Bradleys 92 punches.

10-9 Manny

9:47 P.M.: Oh Yeeeeaaahhhuuu, Cheetos Puffs and Cookies and Cream Ice Cream, BOOM!

9th Round: I keep thinking that I’m surprised Bradley isn’t pushing the action more at this point because to me Manny has a pretty solid lead on the score cards. There’s no urgency at all in the way Bradley is fighting at this point and it’s annoying. In my book he’s only won 3 rounds so why not go for broke or at least set it up so you can go for it in the 10th. With a minute left in the round  Manny loads up on some power shots and Bradley doesn’t really have an answer. I give the round to Manny.

10-9 Manny

Side Note: I’ve literally never heard the word “Fucking” used so much before by a corner-man. Bradley’s corner guy keeps telling Bradley to stop complaining about his fucking foot and fight. At a certain point I felt the need to wash my mouth out with soap just because I thought I would get a call from my mom. It was weird hearing that much swearing and I like to swear.

10th Round: Is there a voice more annoying than Harold Ledderman? I start thinking that once Bradley loses the fight, they are probably gonna play up the fact that he hurt his foot and how lame of an excuse that would of been. I’m looking at my notes and all I have written down for the 10th is Zzzzzzz on the action. Manny wins the round but nothing of note jumped out at me other than the fact that I felt sorry for the people that paid for the fight.

10-9 Manny

9:50 P.M.: Yup, A’s still losing. SMH!

11th Round: At this point I want to see Bradley pick up the pace and fight with way more urgency. Bradley is throwing punches but to me its a little to late especially since he is really trying to pick his spots. 40 seconds left in the round and Manny starts up again with his round closing flurry but Bradley weathers it without taking to much damage. Manny wins round and is 1 round closer to retaining title.

10-9 Manny

9:54 P.M.: I think my ears are starting to bleed from the amount of profanity Bradley’s corner man is using. It’s as if he just learned about the F word and decided to immediately implement it into his vocabulary.

12th Round: Mercifully the 12th round begins and really the only thing that I can think of is the surprised  look on Bradley’s face when Manny points him on the decision. Bradley wasn’t particularly aggressive in the 12th when I thought he should be trying to go for the knock out because that was going to be the only way he would win. Pacquiao was doing a good job on defense by not allowing Bradley to get off an clean shots and just playing it really safe with the fight in hand. Manny wins 12th.

10-9 Manny

Final punch numbers, Manny had 253 total Punches to Bradley’s 159. Also Manny threw 453 Power punches and landed 190 for a connect rate of 39%. While Bradley threw 390 power punches and landed 108 for 28% connect rate.

9:58 P.M.: After seeing the compubox stats, they just reassured what I had already thought that Manny won the fight hands down. After the first 2 rounds, he became the aggressor and Bradley really didn’t have an answer for him even though I had him wining 7th round late. Also why the hell are they carrying Bradley around on their shoulders, they do realize he lost the fight? Well a fighter has always gotta exude confidence I guess.

10:03 P.M: They pan to a shot of Manny’s wife, Jinkee and why does she look so mad. She does realize Manny gave up Gambling, His Night Club, and his Strip Club for her. What else does she want from Manny that wouldn’t involve losing an organ of some kind.

10:06 P.M.: Wow, that’s weird why are they doing Bio’s on the judges who scored this fight? Is that a new thing because I’ve never seen it done at the end of a fight. Usually it’s done at the beginning of the fight. Hmmmm…

10:08 P.M.: (Michael Buffer Voice) ” And your winner by split decision and NEW WBO WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION, TIMOTHY BRADLEY JRRRRRRR.!”

10:09 P.M.: WTF!!!!!! Well, the Nevada Judges just single handedly killed Boxing tonight! Awesome job, Duane Ford and C.J. Ross who scored the fight for Bradley, I’m sure they had no money or bets placed on this fight.

10:10 P.M.: Twitter EXPLODES!!!

And people wonder why boxing is becoming a dying sport. I have no allegiance to either fighter but when something like this scoring fiasco happens in a fight of this magnitude it just makes me wonder why I even watch boxing anymore. Especially when you watch a fight and see that one fighter has been in complete control of the fight only to have 3 other people see the complete opposite. Tonight was another one of the many black eyes that the sport of boxing has received of late and one that they might not be able to recover from.

Hey Dana White, when your next fight because Boxing just killed itself?