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Boxing Thread (vs. worst split decision ever)

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DooMMooD

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Didn't see a thread for this so I figured I'd make one. If I missed it feel free to merge.

Anyway, I"m a boxing fan and enjoy talking about the fights and everything, but right now I'm going to get a bit more specific.

I didnt get to see the Pacq/Bradley fight last night because I was watching the Celts game, but I've heard all about it and the absolute absurdity. I saw the Compubox score too, for those who havent:

http://compuboxonline.com/compubox-stats-bradley-w-12-pacquaio/

For those who haven't heard, it was basically OBVIOUS to anyone who watched the fight (and to anyone who didnt get to but saw the compubox stats, aka me) that Pacquiao won. Not even close. Bradley himself was quoted as saying "I tried hard but I couldn't beat the guy." And Pacquio himself said he was so sure he won he didnt even listen to the read decision. But the judges made the split decision in favor of Bradley and he won the fight.

I'm no Pacquiao fan either, and most fans know that the split decisions are iffy (usually under/overscore the winner), and its OBVIOUS at the end who was the winner/loser regardless of what the judges say. Usually you take the splits with big grains of salt, because its usually just in favor of the right guy (by like a point).

But this was absolute horse shit.

I've been reading a few articles about this, and a lot are asking:

Will boxing be able to recover from this?

A lot of people are saying "boxing is garbage, never watching again. That was a horseshit decision. Why pay to watch a bunch of rigged bullshit?" A lot of valid points. Boxing had just come out of a big low. For years no one was into it, then suddenly the past two years or so, it got big again. With all these big fighters becoming household names, Mayweather, Pacq, Cotto, Hoya, etc etc, it was on a bigggg upswing. Granted I feel they rode off the coattails of MMA a bit, attracting some fans, although irrelevant to this conversation), boxing was rising once again. But after this....will it ever rise again?

A lot of people are questioning whether it will, or if it will slowly fade. And to be honest I'm not so sure myself...Who will ever trust them again? Who can ever trust a judge, or official in the sport in the immediate future? And who can the fighters themselves trust? Will people even trust the fighters themselves anymore, or assume that theyre all now in with the promoters and Vegas; I dont think many fighters, if any, rig it themselves, but if they cant even trust the judges to give them an obvious decision, why WOULDN"T THEY go along with the cheating NEXT TIME? Kinda hard to hop in a ring knowing that even if you destroy the other guy you could still lose. Who would play a sport where you win but still lose? Who would want to risk their future health (which is what most boxers give up) and work so hard to WIN but not get paid for it? Why wouldn't these guys just go over to MMA or another sport, where they would actually get what they deserve for getting the shit kicked out of themIf the fighters cant even trust they'll get paid for winning...why would they subject themselves to being brutally punched in the face? And if they cant put trust in their own profession...how can any fan do so?

Lots of questions and ifs, which is why I'm really unsure where boxing is going to go to...

When people complain about this and that and all this shit in the boxing world, to now have such an obvious and blatant slap in the face to fans, AND fighters...will anyone remain?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/bryan_armen_graham/06/10/bradley.pacquiao/index.html

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1216055-pacquiao-vs-bradley-how-does-boxing-recover-from-this-terrible-decision

And again, I'm no Pacquiao fan, but as Bryan Graham writes (guy who wrote the SI article above):
But after everything he's done for boxing, Manny Pacquiao is the last person who should have been cheated like this. He deserved better.
Click to expand...
He did deserve better. And so do the fans.


Input and thoughts?
 
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Probably has nothing to do with both fighters having the same promoter and the fact any rematch will generate millions of more dollars and probably be one of the biggest pay per view in history :\
 
I dont give a shit who won. I didn't even watch the fight in case you read.

I"m just wondering if this is going to destroy the sport of boxing. I guess if you dont care its just a loser whining about officiating. Considering I usually do enjoy watching boxing I actually do care so you know.

Thats not too far fetched an idea Busty. I forget both fighters had same promoter.
 
This isn't new. The sport of boxing has always been plagued with corrupt officials. It was that way when fighters fought bare knuckle and will continue to be that way. Somehow boxing has always managed to survive controversy after controversy. There have been far more damaging things done to boxing over the years than this.

After the death of South Korean lightweigt boxer Duk Koo Kim at the hands of Ray "boom boom" Mancini on live television the whole world erupted against the sport of boxing. Many people calling for it to be banned. And yet the sport didn't die. They just reduced champion fights to 12 rounds instead of 15 which IMO did more damage to the sport than him dying.

I could name a dozen more controversies that rival and overshadow this Pac man fight. And yet the sport has survived, and IMO will continue to survive for a very long time.
 
Having multiple belts regulated by business men and corrupt promoters is more damaging than a surprising split decision. Boxers dodging fights for years at a time, denying the public a true championship fight when both fighters are both in their prime is damaging to boxing. Neither is going to end professional boxing as we know it.

MMA is by far a poorer spectacle than boxing. Short bouts that 80% of the time end on the floor wrestling in an ugly ghetto looking cage is no match for the artistry and aesthetic beauty that is boxing, yet people flock to it because they perceive it is "fairer". It will take the courage (and money) for someone to start a television station dedicated to true championship bouts and pay the fighters what they deserve. You can not argue that boxers don't earn their money, and it is embarrassing that people earn considerably more for simple hosting their fights.
 
Manny needs to fight Mayweather for boxing to even be relevant again. And they should just do away with judges. Go until someone is ko'd
 
The best years of both fighters (Manny in particular) are well past them. I do agree it should be a fight until a knock down. I always imagine those 100+ round World championships bouts at the turn of the 20th century would have been fucking epic.
 
Having multiple belts regulated by business men and corrupt promoters is more damaging than a surprising split decision. Boxers dodging fights for years at a time, denying the public a true championship fight when both fighters are both in their prime is damaging to boxing. Neither is going to end professional boxing as we know it.
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This! I didn't peg you as a boxing fan Busty :) I think you're right on about this. This and the fact that the heavyweight division is ruled by the Klitchko brothers. Both of whom are IMO extremely boring fighters. It seems to me whenever the heavyweights are doing bad the whole sport suffers.

Personally I think all these alphabet soup boxing organizations need to be banned and have one united worldwide boxing commission. Will never happen though I know. Too much bullshit politics.

MMA is by far a poorer spectacle than boxing. Short bouts that 80% of the time end on the floor wrestling in an ugly ghetto looking cage is no match for the artistry and aesthetic beauty that is boxing, yet people flock to it because they perceive it is "fairer". It will take the courage (and money) for someone to start a television station dedicated to true championship bouts and pay the fighters what they deserve. You can not argue that boxers don't earn their money, and it is embarrassing that people earn considerably more for simple hosting their fights.
Click to expand...

I like MMA but I totally agree that boxing is far superior. The ground game/wrestling in MMA isn't as aesthetically or artistically pleasing as two skilled boxers going at it. And for the most part most MMA fighters aren't half the boxers of even a stepping stone boxer.

When I think of the classic boxing fights compared with the "classics" of MMA it is not a comparison at all. Sugar Ray Robinson VS Jake LaMotta (especially their last fight when Jake just refused to go down). Muhammad Ali VS Joe Frazier (Thrilla in Manila one of the best heavyweight bouts EVER) Roberto Duran VS Sugar Ray Leonard. Thomas Hearns VS Marvelous Marvin Hagler. Micky Ward VS Arturo Gatti trilogy. I mean I can go on and on.

The best years of both fighters (Manny in particular) are well past them. I do agree it should be a fight until a knock down. I always imagine those 100+ round World championships bouts at the turn of the 20th century would have been fucking epic.
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Yeah those bare knuckle days must have been hardcore. My only objection to this period was that black fighters were often not allowed title shots. So there were probably a ton of talented black boxers back in those days that never got recognized.

As for Manny and Mayweather fighting. I don't think it will ever happen. Manny's camp refuses blood tests on the day of the fight fearing that he will be weakened by it. And Mayweather refuses to fight Manny unless he takes the blood test.

Mayweather needs to find his balls and fight Manny already.
 
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shimazu said:
Manny needs to fight Mayweather for boxing to even be relevant again. And they should just do away with judges. Go until someone is ko'd
Click to expand...

Personally I think championship fights should go back to 15 rounds.
 
I think boxing was just trying to create another big name to market.

"oh thats the guy who beat Pacquiao"
 
All valid points! I was just trying to generate some thought and discussion, and since that was what was dominating the news I went with that. Perhaps boxing will survive, perhaps it wont.

You say boxing has survived before, but that was before MMA got as big as it did, and now people have an alternative. Which is why I think its more apt to discuss it today than all the other bullshit boxing has endured.

I personally like boxing better than MMA as well freddy. Youre right: something about watching 2 fighters go at it in a classic way. Just screams style, grace, and sport to me, I dunno. I always thought if i wanted to see a fight like MMA i'd just go to a bar and crack a bottle over a dudes head. Probably a lot more exciting when anything goes, TRULY.

Thats why I believe boxing to be better, IMO. Its about beating your opponent (to a pulp sometimes) and winning, but also about doing it within the confines of a set of rules. They need to EXCEL at boxing to be a boxer. in MMA you can excel at many things which is why I dont find it "as sporting", if thats the correct term?

I also think a Mayweather Pac fight needs to happen. Although I wish it had happened years ago when both fighters were in their young prime.
 
I think the Mayweather Pacquiao fight will happen. Pacquiao won't be bringing anything to the negotiation table though. He's no longer ranked pound for pound best fighter and now he's lost his WBO Welterweight title. Mayweather couldn't give a fuck about that but he does care about his unbeaten record so he'll be calling the shots.

All along Mayweather wanted a 60-40 split of the revenue while Pacquiao wanted a 50-50 split. I'd say this was more a stumbling block than the drug testing considering the purse of this fight could rise to $100 million. Like most people, if it does happen it will be 2/3 years too late IMO.
 
The appeal of MMA when it first started was the blood sport nature of the event. The fact it was banned in most states and almost bare knuckle fighting really did play upon our love for combat. Unfortunately now it has become so technique orientated that the wrestling is an important skill to resort to and we can all agree that is where boxing is superior. Even watching two guys just club each other has become a little dull. Like DooMMood said I cringe when I see guys in a bar fight so I don't really get a thrill watching organised street brawls.

I love boxing training. That intense drain it puts on your body and the results you get from even tapering for a month or two. I don't really get in the ring much these days as I usually treat too many "lunch time" brawlers (usually stock brokers) with broken jaws, even when they are wearing helmets.

The dream would be one unified Council controlling all championship fights. The only way I see this happening would be if the Olympics suddenly opened itself up to professional fighters and this became the dream of any purist. Unlikely given the standing of amateur boxing and it's history of producing future world champions. MMA will slowly head down the same path that boxing has, so I wouldn't worry too much about it's threat. Money talks and unfortunately, like in most professional sports there are more leeches getting their share before the athletes actually see a penny.

It has been a long time since the Heavyweight division held any real entertainment value. Back in the Ali/Frazier era they were far more athletic. Now days you get immovable blocks of men that require less skill and more brute strength to defeat. I have always preferred the lighter division any way. Welterweight and middleweight fighters are more exciting for me as they tend to throw more punches and "lucky" KO's are rare. They only reason the Heavyweights are so revered is the fact they would usually win if you threw them in with a lighter fighter. This doesn't make them a better fighter.
 
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