Manny Pacquiao demands rematch as promoter criticises Vegas judges

Fight promoter Bob Arum says judges needed to 'correct their vision' as defeated champion calls for return bout with Timothy Bradley.

Manny Pacquiao, from the Philippines, sits in his corner following the tenth round of his WBO welterweight title fight against Timothy Bradley, from Palm Springs, Calif., Saturday, June 9, 2012, in Las Vegas. Bradley won the bout by split decision. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
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LAS VEGAS // Manny Pacquiao says he wants a rematch with Timothy Bradley after his controversial points defeat by the American today.

Fans reacted with fury after the surprise decision, which saw just one of the judges give the WBO Welterweight title bout to Pacquiao despite his apparent dominance of the fight.

Afterwards the Filipino favourite said he wanted a rematch against Bradley - and intended to make sure it was finished within the distance.

"I want a rematch," he said.

"That makes me become a warrior in the ring, this coming rematch, because in the rematch my thinking is I don't want to finish the whole 12 rounds."

Fight promoter Bob Arum was outraged by the scoring of judges CJ Ross and Duane Ford, who favoured Bradley 115-113 - but said he did not believe corruption was behind their decision.

"The one thing I refuse to even consider is that there was anything funny going on — betting or anything," Arum said.

"I don't believe that. To the bottom of my bones I don't believe that.

"I know these guys. They're honest. They need to correct their vision, but they're honest."

Pacquiao appeared to land the more damaging blows throughout the contest and CompuBox electronic punch statistics showed Pacquiao connected on 253 punches to Bradley's 159, with a 63-51 advantage in jabs and 190-108 in power punches.

Arum questioned the competence of the judges, the selection process the Nevada State Athletic Commission used to choose them, and the fact that all came from Nevada.

He suggested the commission — which oversees boxing in the state — should make the judges available next week to explain what they saw.

He quipped that he would pay to send them to his eye doctor in Los Angeles, and gave a terse "no comment" when asked if the rematch between Bradley and Pacquiao proposed for November would be in Las Vegas.

Arum said he believed Pacquiao won 10 of the 12 rounds, and that Bradley's manager Cameron Dunkin told him ringside he had scored the bout 8-4 for Pacquiao.

In November, Pacquiao won a controversial decision of his own over Juan Manuel Marquez, but Arum said that at least that fight was close.

"This is nuts," Arum said. "People don't know what they're watching anymore. I'm going to make a lot of money (with a rematch). But who is going to take this sport seriously?"

Bradley said he did not mind the boos that rang out from the pro-Pacquiao crowd when the decision was announced, and he was not about to apologise for adding Pacquiao's WBO welterweight belt to a resume that already included the WBO light welterweight title.

"There's three judges out there," Bradley said. "That's the way they judged it. What do you want me to do? My corner thought I was winning the fight.

"There's three judges out there. Two of them thought I won the fight. That's all I can say about that."

sports@thenational.ae

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