FANS of Manny Pacquiao, including many of us Filipinos, have understandably cried foul over how the judges in his fight against American Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada favored the boxer who refused to engage, or in layman’s term, ran all night. But there are at least three reasons why, despite the complaints, being objective and moving on has become the better option now.
Firstly, the judges have handed down their decision. The Nevada State Athletic Commission, which supervises boxing bouts in Las Vegas, rarely reverses the decision of the judges even in some of the most controversial circumstances.
When Timothy Bradley fought Pacquiao also at the MGM Grand, the American won the bout over the Filipino in a highly controversial split decision. That decision was never reversed even with the consensus among experts that Pacquiao was robbed. Pacquiao had to fight Bradley again in 2014 to finally get the scorecards win.
Secondly, the numbers just don’t favor Pacquiao’s case. While Mayweather has been known to run and clinch to evade punishment, he is also accurate when throwing punches even if he throws them selectively. That strategy worked for him in the 47 fights that he won before he fought Pacquiao. It also worked against the Filipino slugger.
The respected Compubox recorded 435 punches thrown by Mayweather throughout the bout with Pacquiao throwing only 429 punches. This was a letdown for Pacquiao fans because he was expected to outwork Mayweather being a known volume puncher. Mayweather landed 148 of the punches he threw for a connect percentage of 34 percent.
Pacquiao landed only 81 for an accuracy of only 19 percent.
The stats propped up the case for the judges.
Thirdly, the contract for the Mayweather-Pacquiao bout didn’t include a rematch clause. Mayweather has only one fight remaining in his contract with Showtime and he is expected to battle with an easier opponent and after that, if he makes good his promise, retire. It is doubtful if he will ever fight Pacquiao again considering how the Filipino tested him in the ring. Besides, a rematch wouldn’t be as lucrative as the first fight.
It is therefore good if Pacquiao fans get over Mayweather and attend to the real and more important concerns in their lives.