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Timothy Bradley says he received death threats after win over Manny Pacquiao

June 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Those of you who follow boxing know that last weekend the sport saw one of the most controversial decisions of all time. Timothy Bradley defeated Manny Pacquiao to become the welterweight champion, and people who know boxing say it was obvious that Pacquiao won the fight. For a tremendously thorough analysis on how and why the fight could have been fixed, be sure to read LB’s thoughts on what went down in Las Vegas.

After the fight, Pacquiao fans were outraged — so much so that Bradley says he has been receiving death threats since claiming the belt.

“Definitely on Facebook and Twitter, reading people’s comments, e-mails and people are sending me like death threats, telling me to die, telling me to give the belt back, ‘if you’re a man’ and all this hate mail,” Bradley said during an interview with ESPN Radio in Chicago’s Waddle and Silvy Show. “Just people being really rude like I’m the one to blame. ‘If you’re a real champion and want any respect from me then you’d give the belt back.’ I’m like ‘dude I earned the belt and I’m not giving the belt back.’

“Anybody out there that thinks I should give the belt back, the belt is not going back. I deserve the belt. I won the fight regardless of what anyone thinks. The judges thought I won the fight and that is that. I’m not the one to blame here. Don’t be pointing the finger at me, don’t be sending me crazy e-mails and things like that because I really don’t care.”

Unless Bradley had a hand in fixing the fight, he did indeed win the fight fair and square from his perspective. He also denied claims that he told promoter Bob Arum that he felt he lost the fight after hearing the decision, saying he simply said, “I have injuries and did my best.” Fix or no fix, death threats are always taking it too far.

Photo credit: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

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One sports book refunded Manny Pacquiao bettors, others lost huge on fight (plus other funny betting business stories)

June 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment

There was some funny betting going on for the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley fight on Saturday that won’t help decrease speculation that the fight was fixed.

RJ Bell of Pregame.com tells us that while most of the money came in on Pacquiao in the months leading up to the fight, big money came in on Bradley the day of the fight.

LBS insider Arsenious says the same thing, and tells us that the moneyline on Bradley plummeted from +475 to +300 in the final hour before the fight began. That means so much money came in on Bradley on Saturday, it lowered the payout odds on him to win the fight from 4.75:1 to 3:1.

Because of the big money that poured in on Bradley on Saturday, Las Vegas sports books lost big on the fight, per Bell. He tells us that one online sports book said it lost more on this fight than any other in its history.

We also have two other crazy betting stories from the fight.

[Read more...]

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How and why I think Bob Arum fixed the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley fight

June 11, 2012 By 6 Comments

Corruption has been a part of boxing as long as the sport has been around. Whether it was the mob telling one fighter to take a dive in the 5th, or a promoter paying off the judges to score the bout in favor of his boxer, the fix has been in for years. Last Saturday in Las Vegas, there is no doubt the fix was in.

There was not one person who saw the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley fight and thought Bradley won. Nobody is debating who won it. There isn’t some magical judging system in boxing that the common man doesn’t understand that resulted in two judges scoring the fight in favor of Bradley while nobody else even thought he was close. Pacquiao won the fight decisively, and even Bradley wasn’t convinced he’d won.

It seems clear the fight was fixed so that a decision would favor Bradley. Let’s go over how and why that happened by examining each character involved and their motivations.

Bob Arum, Top Rank: Arum has been involved with boxing since the ’60s and is one of the two biggest promoters in the sport (Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy is the other). He represents many of the top fighters, but his prized fighter is Manny Pacquiao.

Since Pacquiao became a megastar after beating Oscar De La Hoya in 2008 and Ricky Hatton in 2009, Bob Arum has handled the Filipino’s fight schedule carefully. And by carefully, we mean he arranged it so that it benefited him the most.

[Read more...]

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Timothy Bradley wasn’t convinced he won ‘I got to view the tape’

June 10, 2012 By 1 Comment

Saturday’s split decision victory for Timothy Bradley over Manny Pacquiao was one of the worst decisions boxing has seen in a long time. The stats, the viewers, and the damage all told the same story: Pac Man beat Bradley convincingly. Sure, there were plenty of rounds that were close, but there weren’t enough for Manny to have lost. Heck, even Bradley seemed surprised he had won.

Asked after the fight if he felt he won, Bradley expressed skepticism.

“Every round was pretty close. I got to go home and view the tape and see if I really won,” he said.

He apparently wasn’t the only one from his corner who was stunned. According to SI’s Chris Mannix, promoter Bob Arum said that Bradley’s manager had it 8 rounds to 4 in favor of Pacquiao.

Let’s add things up for a second: Pacquiao felt he won, everyone watching thought Pacquiao won, Bradley’s manager thought Pacquiao won, and Bradley wasn’t even convinced he had won the fight. That all being the case, how on earth could Bradley have won the fight? You know the answer, so I don’t even have to say it.

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Timothy Bradley in wheelchair at post-fight press conference (Picture)

June 9, 2012 By 28 Comments

Timothy Bradley rolled his way to victory over Manny Pacquiao on the judges’ scorecards, and then he rolled his way into his post-fight press conference.

There were a few reports during the fight that Bradley hurt his foot in the early rounds. After the fight, Jaime Motta of Univision reported that Bradley fractured his left foot and sprained his right foot. That explains the wheelchair.

According to fight promoter Top Rank Boxing, Bradley hurt his left foot stepping on the referee’s foot in the second round.

I’m not sure what was more improbable: that Bradley showed up to the presser in a wheelchair, or that he WON A FIGHT WITH A BROKEN FOOT. You make the call.

Photo credit: Bryan A. Graham

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Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley fight won’t start until after Game 7

June 7, 2012 By 2 Comments

The Heat beat the Celtics on Thursday night to force a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference finals, and that has created a packed sports schedule for Saturday.

The Celtics-Heat game is scheduled to start at 8:30pm ET, and it will be competing for viewers with Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Kings and Devils which starts at 8pm ET. There is also the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley fight scheduled for later in the evening, but it reportedly won’t start until after the NBA game ends.

According to George Willis of the New York Post, promoter Bob Arum says the fight won’t start until after Game 7 ends.

Big time boxing fights usually start somewhere between 11:00 and 11:30pm ET on Saturdays, but that can fluctuate depending on how quickly or slowly the undercard moves.

Bob Arum didn’t get to where he is by being stupid. Deceitful, yes. But stupid? No. He knows a good percentage of his audience will also be watching the Heat-Celtics game, so why infuriate them by making them choose, especially when his start time is flexible?

He’s wisely accommodating sports fans. Hey, it’s the least he can do considering he’s keeping us from seeing Pacquiao-Mayweather.

H/T Jose3030

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Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley likely to fight June 9th in Las Vegas

February 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Manny Pacquiao is likely to fight Timothy Bradley on June 9th in Las Vegas according to several reports. Pac Man is settling on Bradley after Floyd Mayweather agreed to a May fight with Miguel Cotto, who was also being considered to face the Filipino.

Promoter Bob Arum says the negotiations are nearing completion, noting that it’s difficult to finalize things with Manny so many time zones away in the Philippines.

Bradley is 28-0 with 12 KOs in his career. He defeated Devon Alexander in Detroit last year in an extremely boring and disappointing fight. It was also controversial due to several headbutts by Bradley, who has a rather large cranium. Bradley then turned down a fight with Amir Khan, left promoter Gary Shaw, and signed with Top Rank’s Bob Arum. We wrote last February that Bradley and Pacquiao were likely to fight, and it looks like that’s coming true.

If you’re wondering who Bradley is and why he’s getting this fight, that is your answer. Bob Arum only sets Manny Pacquiao up with fighters he promotes so he can collect a full profit on the fight. So for everyone who was hoping to see Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. square off, you’re left with Mayweather-Cotto and Pacquiao-Bradley. It’s hardly the consolation prize fight fans were hoping for.

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