Skip to main content

The Pacquiao-Bradley "Fix"

SERIOUS SUSPICIONS START to surface lately on the probability of a fix fight in the Pacquiao-Bradley split decision that had the Pambansang Kamao on the losing side. I thought I was the only one on this suspicion; but apparently not.

Many are actually asking this difficult question: is Manny Pacquiao involved in the fix?

If you still can remember rounds one through five, Manny behaved so much like the Manny we know--strong, fast, both in hands and feet. But when the bell rang to start Round 6, Manny slowed down significantly, perhaps around 70 percent of the Pacquiao we know.

Could that slow down be a cue for the "fix" mechanism to proceed?

There are many benefits for a setup of such a fix. First, that's supposed to be Manny's last fight before he hands his boxing gloves. Losing a fight that can be convincingly one later on after Manny has tested what Bradley can dish out was no unavoidable loss, but a strategic one. It gives Manny an excuse to fight at most two more even he already made public his plan to retire after the fight. No Filipino will fault him for giving Bradley a rematch because he has to in order to save his welterweight belt as well as his legacy in boxing history.

Second, this apparent show of "weakness" in Manny Pacquiao has a potential to flush out Mayweather into a career-crowning battle of the century. It is apparently the same gambit that he made in his earlier fight with Marquez, again to appear seemingly weak, to motivate Mayweather to come out of his hiding and fight Pacquiao in the ring.

Third, the guaranteed purse sharing and his share on the pay-per-view reviews will not change with the loss. Money-wise the guarantee was on.

Fourth, the appearance of being cheated his belt made Manny more a hero in the eyes of the boxing world because he obviously won the fight, but failed in the judges. The sympathy of the fans was with him.

Fifth, Manny can regain his prominent title in the rematch because he is obviously a better fighter than Bradley. A third fight can even be arranged in a financially rewarding manner.

These factors are simply too rewarding not to be tempting for the Pac-Man. Of course, it is not saying that he hatched this idea, or even worked in setting up on it. Someone could have persuaded him to play this game at least before he bows off from the sports for good.

If this fix indeed occurred, it is not difficult to see who arranged this to happen the way it had.

At the end of the day, in a fair game, the better athlete wins the game most of the time. If Manny can be honest about it, he could have won the game convincingly but he did not, by choice or what we still do not know (he still has to explain to us why he slowed down in Round 6). If there's a fixing involved then what we observed gives a telltale story of it.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Elite" Cry-Babies?

I CANNOT IMAGINE how an operative of the Special Counter-Insurgency Operations Unit (SCOU), when caught by insurgents and subjective to the worse torture imaginable, can ever survive with their mental faculties intact. But that's exactly what's going to happen if the recent products of SCOU Training cry foul, or more specifically 'hazing,' when they are subjected to the hard realities of law enforcent that handles counterinsurgency operations. Operatives must be physically hard and mentally sturdy to survive the prospect of getting captured without squelling reserved information to the enemy. I am disappointed to hear that the recent batch of SCOUT trainees considered their physical ordeals during training as 'hazing.' Have they entertained the thought that they were in Camp Ceferino Genovia in Barangay Bahay for an exotic 45-day vacation? If they cannot endure physical pain during training, they must ship out because real life counterinsurgency work ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Separatist Tactic Unraveled

A RECENT INCIDENT in Davao City revealed the sneaky tactic that Muslim separatists use in claiming more and more lands in Mindanao as "their ancestral" land. Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte ordered on November 17 members of the Moro National Liberation Front-National Elite Security Unit to vacate areas in Sitio Agdao, Talomo and Mintal, which they claim as a land of their ancestors. True to form they have started harrassing those who are living there in order to have the place for themselves. This was not the first time in Mindanao. (By God, even nations around the world had similar problems with creeping Muslim communities amidst them that can become breeding nests for terrorist operatives.) Provinces like the Zamboangas also noted this kind of creeping dominion; although in certain areas families and relatives of separatists did the subtle presence in certain areas where they later would show no plan to leave. Good that in Davao City they  have a Dutert...
Post a Comment
Read more

Gifts of Discounts

SECTION 13 of the New Code of Philippine Judicial Conduct (27 April 2004) stated: Judges and members of their families shall neither ask for nor receive any gift, bequest, loan, or favor in relation to anything done or to be done or omitted to be done by him or her in connection with the performance of judicial duties. Its annotation explains that: Public officials and employees shall not solicit or accept, directly or indirectly, any gift, gratuity, favor, entertainment, loan or anything of money value from any person in the course of their official duties or in connection with any operation being regulated by, or any transaction which may be affected by the functions of their office." The key phrase here is--"in the course of their official duties." It means that as long as a judge remains a judge of Philippine courts, this Code applies, prohibiting any receipt, directly or indirectly, from any person. The question then is: Is a discount a gift? ...
Post a Comment
Read more