Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley: Was the Fight Fixed?

Manny Pacquiao's first loss in seven years has many people questioning the legitimacy of Timothy Bradley's victory.

Bradley defeated Pac-Man by a split decision on Saturday, as the two fought for the WBO Welterweight title in Las Vegas.

Two of the judges scored the fight 115-113 in favor of Bradley, while the other gave Pacquiao the victory by the same score. Many boxing experts seem to think that Pacquiao should have been named the winner.

Former trainer and current ESPN boxing analyst, Teddy Atlas, indicated that Bradley may have won because the fight was fixed.

Unfortunately the scorers of fights are incompetent, and sometimes they're more than incompetent. Sometimes they're corrupt, said Atlas on SportsCenter after the fight.

Atlas suggested that perhaps boxing promoter Bob Arum was influential in the final decision. According to Atlas, Pacquiao's contract with Arum is set to expire, and Pac-Man may not stay with the promoter.

A win by Bradley all but guarantees a rematch between the two boxers. A date has already been set for the bout, which is scheduled to be held on Nov. 10, and Pacquiao-Bradley II would be financially beneficial for Arum.

I'm going to make a lot of money on the rematch, but this was outrageous, said Arum, who expressed his displeasure with the final outcome. Arum claimed he had never been more ashamed of the sport of boxing than after Bradley was given the win.

Arum has a history of being involved in controversy. He was fined $125,000 in 1995 for trying to bribe the International Boxing Federation to sanction a fight between George Foreman and Axel Schulz.

Even the Las Vegas sportsbooks were convinced that Pacquiao won the fight. According to RJ Bell, CEO of pregame.com, Pacquiao was a 200 to 1 favorite once the 12th round ended, but before the final scores were announced.

It wasn't just the experts that said Pacquiao should have been named the winner. The stats also indicated that Pac-Man got the best of Bradley.

According to ESPN Stats and Information, Pacquiao landed 190 punches. Bradley hit Pacquiao just 109 times. Pac-man had a plus 82 advantage in power punches landed. He landed more punches than Bradley in 10 of the 12 rounds.

Bradley was a big underdog, but his victory wasn't as big of an upset as it may have been earlier in the week. A lot of money was bet on Bradley late, according to Haralabos Voulgaris. The professional poker player said Pacquiao's odds went from minus 432 to minus 397 at one casino.

The victory ensures that Bradley remains undefeated. The split decision puts his career record at 29-0.

The loss puts Pacquiao at 54-4-2 all time. It snaps his streak of 15 straight wins.