The sport of boxing has been on its death bed for years now, but this past Saturday night may have marked the night when the plug was finally pulled.
Manny Pacquiao’s seven-year unbeaten streak came to an end this week when he lost a split-decision fight to Timothy Bradley in the MGM Grand arena in Las Vegas, NV.
Pacquiao seemed to be controlling the entire fight, only to have the title taken from him by the judges after the fight, what some people are calling one of the worst decisions in the history of boxing.
Bradley had a good fight for someone fighting Pacquiao, but still not the type of fight that should have earned him the title.
In fact, Pacquiao actually landed 81 more punches than the new champion. The numbers were on Manny’s side. He thought he won the fight, the fans thought he had won, everybody thought that Pacquiao successfully retained his title.
Even Bradley himself thought that Pacquiao had won, when after the fight, just prior to the decision he said, “I tried hard but I couldn’t beat the guy.”
Well, unfortunately for Pacquiao, the only people that thought Bradley won were two of the judges, and in the sport of boxing, that’s all that matters.
Even Bob Arum, the promoter of the fight, said, “I’ve never been as ashamed of the sport of boxing as I am tonight.”
And why shouldn’t he be? Pacquiao was half of the reason that anyone even cares about boxing anymore. His seven-year unbeaten streak, along with the incredible streak of Floyd Mayweather, were the only things that were keeping boxing afloat.
Now half of what’s worth following in boxing is done because of a bad decision by the judges. Now can Pacquiao win the title back in November when he gets his rematch? Sure, but that doesn’t change the fact that this decision has made the half-dead sport look even worse.
I’m sure that Manny will win his title back, but boxing needed Pacquiao to face off against Mayweather while they were both continuing their unbeaten streaks — now that won’t happen.
The dream fight of Pacquiao and Mayweather was the only shot boxing had at competing with the more popular mixed-martial arts displayed in the evermore popular UFC.
UFC has been taking fans from the sport of boxing for years now, and this certainly won’t help boxing’s cause. And no, it won’t be an immediate impact, fans won’t stop watching boxing right away solely because of this fight, but this will start to make fans shy away from boxing even more and lean toward the UFC.
Because even if boxing still gets the Pacquiao/Mayweather fight one day, it won’t be as big as it would have been if the two were still rolling strong.
Here’s where boxing currently stands, Pacquiao just got knocked off his mountain and lost his title while Mayweather sits in jail.
How does that make the sport of boxing look?
The day of June 9, 2012 may not have marked the ultimate death of the sport of boxing, but it has helped draw the sport closer to that point.
Years from now, we might look back at that night as a self-inflicting gunshot wound.
Tyler Rollason is a Winder-Barrow High School graduate and mass communications major at the University of West Georgia. You can e-mail comments about this column to tyrollason@yahoo.com.
Great article! I also appreciate your coverage of the NFL in a very college football-centric area.
Boxing comes and goes with the Heavyweight division. The Klitschko brothers are all-time greats that are brilliant tacticians. That being said, knockout kings and one-hitter quitters like Tyson, they are not. With the lack of pizzazz from the Klitschko brothers coupled with the severe lack of legitimate American heavyweights, boxing is left for the Mayweathers and Pacquiaos of the day to carry the torch...poorly. The Pacquiao-Bradley decision only further buries boxing.