Timothy Bradley upsets Manny Pacquiao on split decision

LAS VEGAS – Manny Pacquiao appeared to dominate Timothy Bradley in almost every round Saturday night at the Grand Garden Arena.But it was Bradley who came away with the hardware.In a stunning split decision, Bradley was awarded the victory and Pacquiao's WBO welterweight title, as two judges, CJ Ross and Duane Ford, gave it to Bradley 115-113, while Jerry Roth awarded the fight to Pacquiao by the same score.

Those in the capacity crowd at The MGM Grand Garden Arena let their disapproval of the decision be heard, raining down boos as HBO's Max Kellerman tried to interview the fighters in the ring afterward.

Bradley remained undefeated, improving his record to 29-0, with 12 KOs. Pacquiao fell to 54-4-2, with 38 KOs, suffering his first loss since 2005, when he fell to Mexico's Erik Morales.

Pacquiao had a decided edge in punches, connecting on 253 total – nearly 100 more than Bradley's 159. Pacquiao also landed 190 power punches to Bradley's 108.

Nearly everybody on media row, including HBO's Harold Lederman, scored the bout overwhelmingly for Pacquiao. But the judges at ringside, in a stunning decision, saw it otherwise.

Top Rank Chairman Bob Arum came over to media row and said he had it 10 rounds to 2 for Pacquiao, and said even Bradley's manager, Cameron Dunkin, had it 8-4 for Pacquiao.

"We'll make a lot of money on the rematch, but this is (expletive) nuts. People don't even know what they're watching. They're trying to kill boxing," the 81-year-old Arum said.

But he added that "The one thing I refuse to believe is that anything 'funny' is going on here. Betting, or anything like that. I don't believe it."

Bradley's trainer, Joel Diaz, said Bradley hurt his left ankle badly in the second round. Diaz said he gave him two options – either stop the fight or continue. Bradley chose to continue.

Bradley showed up for the postfight press conference in a wheelchair, showing off a left ankle he believes he broke in the second round, and another which was swelled considerably.

"Pacquiao is a tough, tough warrior," Bradley said. "This guy can punch, this guy has speed, he has all the tools.

"Me and my team, we did it, we shocked the world like I said we would. I definitely would like to do this again, I heard the boos at the end of the night, which is OK.

"We definitely need to do this again in November, and let's make it more decisive."

Bradley said he felt a lot of the shots that Pacquiao was throwing were missing.

Diaz said afterward that Pacquiao landed only three or four clean shots.

"I did my best tonight, but my best wasn't good enough," said Pacquiao, who went to Bradley's father, Tim Sr., and told him his son would make a great champion. He said the same to his opponent. "Tonight, he never hurt me. I don't know what happened."

Pacquiao said he would have no problem agreeing to a rematch."No doubt," he said.

For Pacquiao, it was his first fight since his religious rebirth. After narrowly defeating Juan Manuel Marquez in November in a fight many in the media felt Marquez had won, Pacquiao said he gave up his vices and turned to the Bible.

He sold his casino in Manila, as well as his vast cockfighting operation. He said he had stopped drinking and womanizing.

Those closest to Pacquiao, 33, praised the first-term Filipino congressman for growing much closer to his wife and four children. Pacquiao even began to do daily Bible study with his wife, Jinkee, and others. Those in his entourage who disapproved of his conversion soon were gone.

Perhaps as a bad omen Saturday night, Pacquiao's favorite basketball team, the Boston Celtics, were eliminated by the Miami Heat from the NBA playoffs. Pacquiao watched the game before his fight.

Bradley, who earned the biggest payday of his career at $5 million, entered the fight undefeated at 28-0 with 12 KOs.

Pacquiao was guaranteed $26 million.

Bradley, 28, said all week he was going to shock the world. He even unveiled an oversized ticket during the final press conference that had Bradley-Pacquiao II written on it, a reference to a rematch after a Bradley victory.It appears that ticket is now worth something.