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Bob Arum: Promoter's Outrage over Pacquiao vs. Bradley Decision Is Nauseating

Brian Mazique@@UniqueMaziqueX.com LogoCorrespondent IIIJune 10, 2012

LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 09:  Top Rank promoter Bob Arum addresses the media during the post-fight press conference after Manny Pacquiao was defeated by Timothy Bradley by split decision at MGM Grand Garden Arena on June 9, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Getty Images)
Jeff Bottari/Getty Images

I didn't buy Bob Arum's "outrage" at Timothy Bradley's split-decision victory over Manny Pacquiao for one second. It didn't come off genuine, and the thoughts that were running through my mind made Arum's soapbox speech sickening.

In an ESPN article, Arum is quoted as saying, "I've never been as ashamed of the sport of boxing as I am tonight."

Really?

How embarrassing was it when the FBI probed you and Top Rank boxing in 2004? They were investigating a possible fix for the Oscar De La Hoya vs. Shane Mosley rematch.

How embarrassing was it for the sport when he called the fighters in the UFC skinheads and homosexuals?

This is hardly the man to talk self-righteously about embarrassing the sport. 

For the record, I was scoring the fight at home. I had Bradley winning the last four rounds, and winning the fight. I was seeing an entirely different fight than many people.

I started out tweeting the scores to every round, but when I saw the disparity, I stopped, and I decided to see how closely my scorecards resembled the judges' final cards.

I think Manny Pacquiao is the better fighter, but in my opinion, he didn't do much after the fifth or sixth round, and he left the others as quiet rounds. In those rounds, Bradley was busier, and I thought the fight was at least closer than the biased HBO commentary team made it sound.

This commentator felt the same way I did. Listen to his perspective as he announces the decision. 

You have to have a short memory as a judge, meaning each round has to be a new story. You can't continue to give a fighter credit late in a fight for something he was doing early. That is what the HBO broadcasters were doing.

Overall, it was a frustrating night for the sport. The undercard was underwhelming on paper, and in the ring, they were downright terrible, sans Randall Bailey's KO of Mike Jones. But even they were getting booed for much of the fight.

Even though I predicted the outcome of the main event exactly correct on all three scorecards, the controversy made me feel empty.

To top it all off, Arum acting as if he was taken aback by a controversial decision made me ill. He said it best when he stated, "I'll make a lot of money off the rematch, but this was outrageous."

An honest man would have stopped that line at "rematch."

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