Fair Fight

A former student took on Manny Pac last night in an overly-hyped fight that brought together diverse fans at viewing parties throughout the valley. Because I knew Tim when he was in high school and admire both him and his father, Ray, I found an on-line blog and followed the action as it happened. Or lack of it. PacMan was the biggest challenger Tim has met in his undefeated career, the one worthy of either making -- or breaking -- Tim's career, and, at the end of 12 rounds, it was clear that Tim had been way over his ability in the ring, but had given both the opponent and the fans a fair fight.

When the fight promoter, Arum, came into the ring at the end of the fight, allegedly Bradley said to him, "I tried my best, but I just couldn't beat the guy."

Shock and Awe usually means that it's such a great fight that everyone is shocked, and then awed, by the contest; last night, however, the shock came when Tim won the fight in a split decision that caused an immediate "Ah, what the fuck?" reaction ringside, shock and awe that was clearly evident on Tim's face. Instantly following the announcement that Bradley won the match, the boos expressed disgust and the accusations of a "fix" went global. Instead of a moment of triumph and glory, Bradley was stuttering the in the middle of the ring while trying to explain his win.

''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.''

Bradley's comments conflicted with what the ringside commentary showed, a young, cocky boxer who was stunned by a solid left punch early on that controlled the rest of the fight, a punch thrown by PacMan and followed by punch after punch after punch in subsequent rounds. Bradley went the distance, but that's all he did. The online blog used comments such as "ineffective" to describe the fight from Bradley, while PacMan dominated. No one, and I mean no one, calling the fight and/or scoring it online, had Bradley winning it, but no one counts except the 3 judges ring-side, and one gave it to PacMan, while the other two gave it to Bradley, their margins closer than anyone could have expected after watching what appeared to be a one-sided match that PacMan clearly dominated.

The boxing promoter (Arum) who handles both fighters was stunned: he believes the split decision casts a pall on the entire fight, but he'll make a huge payday on the rematch, so let's think ahead to November. The way it works, it seems, is that the boxers signed a contract that stipulates if the challenger, in this case Tim, gets a decision, the champion is entitled to a rematch to regain his title. The reason for this, on the surface, is that the champ earned the title and it may be a fluke when he loses it, but what it's really all about is fight promotion. The theory is that everyone will tune in for the rematch, if for no other reason than to see Tim beaten to a pulp by the obviously better fighter who was robbed in the first match. The controversial split decision sets up a rematch that ups the finanical ante for everyone connected to the contest, and there is huge money in boxing, including the $5 million purse that Tim will be given for going the distance last night.

I'm not a fight fan, but if/when fighters take to the ring, it needs to be a fair fight, not fixed. Tim will never be known as the young upstart boxer who beat Manny Pac, but he'll be the cocky kid who was given a controversial split decision the day boxing lost its credibility.