WBO to review Bradley victory

MANILA, Philippines - The World Boxing Organization (WBO) has ordered a re-scoring of the controversial Manny Pacquiao-Tim Bradley showdown last Saturday in Las Vegas in an effort to push for a wider pool of judges for major fights, but maintained that the result of the bout won’t be reversed.

The WBO has chosen five judges to do an individual and confidential re-scoring of the bout and will submit the results to the boxing body by Monday.

WBO president Francisco Valcarcel clarified that the move is not meant to strip Bradley of the crown in case the re-scoring favors Pacquiao, but is just part of their effort to expand the pool of judges for major fights.

He said the result of the re-scoring will be submitted to the Association of Boxing Commissions, for possible discussion and deliberation during its July meeting.

Pacquiao has welcomed the move of the WBO, saying it’s up to the different boxing commissions, particularly the WBO, to take measures that would prevent a repetition of biggest scoring anomaly in professional boxing.

“Sa akin walang problema ‘yun (I don’t have a problem with that),” he said amid calls for an investigation on what transpired in Las Vegas when Pacquiao lost a decision he would have easily won if the judges were fair.

“Sila kung mag-imbestiga sila siyempre natural lang para hindi masira yung image ng boxing (Of course it’s natural for them to investigate so it will not destroy the image of boxing),” said Pacquiao who has not made a commitment to face Bradley in a rematch in November.

“Gusto nila na sa boxing industry yung tiwala ng tao nandun pa din (They want to make sure the trust of the people stays in boxing). I have no problem with that. They will investigate for the name of boxing. They want to regain the trust of the people,” he said.

Pacquiao was in control of the fight, except perhaps in the latter rounds when he allowed Bradley to slip in punches of his own.

Pacquiao was way ahead in the punch stats, and said he was so confident of a victory he did not even bother to listen to the scores as they were being announced by Michael Buffer.

“Next time, pag natuloy (rematch) wala ng judges (If the rematch happens there will be no need for judges),” Pacquiao said.

Valcarcel also told The Los Angeles Times that he is “not questioning the credibility” of judges CJ Ross and Jerry Ross who scored the bout 115-113 for Bradley. The other judge, Duane Ford, had it 115-113 for Pacquiao.

The fight was a hit in Vegas with Las Vegas with live-gate revenues of $8,963,180 from 13,229 tickets sold, and another $249,000 from 4,980 closed-circuit buys in MGM-operated casinos and hotels in Vegas.

Valcarcel said the judges that will do the re-score will come from New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Pennsylvania and Puerto Rico.

“This wasn’t Bradley’s fault, and we’re not saying there was any evidence of fraud or corruption here. That’s outside the scope of what we’re doing,” he told boxing scribe Lance Pugmire.

Valcarcel said the WBO submitted the names of 20 judges to the Nevada State Athletic Commission for the Pacquao-Bradley fight but none was even considered.

“There are excellent judges available internationally, and they should be considered. We’ve done it here in Puerto Rico, bringing in judges from Nevada,” said the WBO chief.