Sunday, June 10, 2012

Reversal of fortune

It's a sad day for Filipinos as Manny Pacquiao lost his bout against Timothy Bradley. This was Pacquiao's first loss since 2005 when he was beaten by Erik Morales, snapping a string of 15 wins. What's more unfortunate about this result is that for most objective viewers, Pacquiao clearly won the fight. Somehow, the judges didn't agree and the split decision after 12 rounds meant that Bradley won. The good thing about it was the unexpected humility showcased by Manny after the loss. When asked about the result, he said that while he felt he won, he respected the judges' decision.

 After the fight, I think that a lot of people's minds immediately went to Pacquiao's win over Marquez last November. Most people had Marquez winning that but the judges ruled that Manny won. This time around, the tables seemed to have been turned, leaving Pacquiao with the short end of the stick. I guess that's the difficulty you have in sports where the winner is determined by a panel of judges. In any case, the fact that practically all fair and objective analysts feel that Pacquiao won,and with his gracious acceptance of the result, he should still come home to a grand welcome.

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