By Mac Arnold
Fighting Side Editor

I just watched the Pacquiao-Bradley fight and judged it for myself like HBO said to.

This judge here called it a draw. There wouldn't be as much outrage with the Mac Arnold card, I suppose. Pacquiao would have kept his WBO welterweight belt.

To tell you the truth ... OK, first off I will admit I'm not a huge Pacquiao fan. So with that being said maybe there was a bit of bias but maybe if HBO announcer Jim Lampley would have called the fight objectively like he was supposed to in the first place and not drool every time Manny moved maybe he would have seen some of the shots Bradley was firing back.

I mean I found it practically gross the way he was prostrating himself over the Pac-Man. It was like, Damn, dude, he's just a above-rate fighter. And one in my opinion who is thriving on the lack of credible opponents.

The list of guys he's mowed down have either been mostly lighter than he was -- Ricky Hatton, for example -- or over the hill -- Oscar De La Hoya, another one.

In some ways it reminded me of the old days with some of the crappy decisions Muhammad Ali (Ken Norton), and later, Sugar Ray Leonard (second Tommy Hearns fight) got away with.

You never heard of how those two "ruined" boxing with their shoeshining ways at the end of the round to steal it for the judges. In fact, it was the direct opposite. They've often been credited with "saving" boxing during their different eras.


Meanwhile, I would be going berserk at home yelling at the TV screen to whomever was announcing the fight, most notably during the Ali days it was Dr. Ferdie Pacheco, "call the fight, call the fight and shut up."


Brought back some old memories.

Not all bad ones really as I sit here now. But spare me, Lampley, with the decision being one that is destroying boxing because what's more at cause of hurting boxing is the two best pound-for-pound fighters not squaring off in the ring, not a couple of blind judges.

By Mac Arnold
Fighting Side Editor


Again, despite this not being the fight the public is clamoring for, Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley Jr. will be an intriguing fight.

Also, I predict it will be a bloodbath because no matter how much the Pacman and his trainer Freddie Roach whine, Bradley's best punch will in fact be with his glimmering head.

Somewhere along the up-tempo fight, a butt will occur and southpaw Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KOs) will come out of the clinch a bloody mess. Head butts are notorious between orthodox fighters and southpaws, regardless of how Bradley already fights.

Bradley (28-0, 12 KOs, 1 no contest), a light welterweight title holder in two divisions, appears in great shape and for sure will push Pacquiao, who has looked somewhat shaky in his last two fights. An appearance Pacquiao's camp says was linked to out-of-ring issues that they also say have been rectified for this battle.

When all is said and done, the lighter Bradley will fade late and Pacquiao will come out of the ring with an 11th-round KO, his WBO welterweight belt still in his possession.

And of course with more of the same innuendos and hypothetical questions going unanswered on whether he is the pound-for-pound best fighter or is WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Sigh. Go Bradley.