Pacquiao Investigation Called For; Rematch Against Bradley Put on Hold

The fierce debate over the outcome of the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley continues days after the two fought in Las Vegas.

Bradley won the fight with two judges scoring it 115-113 in his favor, despite Pacquiao landing significantly more punches. It was the first loss in seven years for Pacquiao and has caused a massive uproar in the boxing world. Many have called for the fight to be investigated, including its, promoter Bob Arum.

Arum, who represents both boxers, remains adamant that Pacquiao won the fight and wants to know whether the fight was fixed.

I want to investigate whether there was any undue influence, whether the [Nevada Athletic Commission] gave any particular instruction and how they came to this conclusion, Arum told Yahoo Sports. But the whole sport is in an uproar. People are going crazy.

If this was a subjective view that each of [the judges] honestly held, OK. I would still disagree, but then we're off the hook in terms of there being no conspiracy. But there needs to be an independent investigation because it strains credulity that an event everybody saw as so one-sided one way, all three judges saw it as close. It strains credulity.

Some have claimed that Arum fixed the fight because his contract was set to expire with Pacquiao. This would allow him to build up the fan base for Bradley should Pacquaio leave or to hype up a rematch if PacMan comes back to his management company.

Arum even admitted after the fight that he'll likely make a lot of money on the rematch, but has since said there will be no rematch until he gets an investigation into the fight. He'll likely get an investigation from the Nevada Athletic Commission, but it is doubtful that much will be accomplished.

The subjective nature of scoring boxing fights allows for controversial decisions like this one to occur without many repercussions. Unless there is direct proof that one of the judges was paid off to score Bradley as the winner, this debate is mostly meaningless.

Especially given that the two judges that scored Bradley as the winner have already publicly backed their controversial decisions.

If this were 'American Idol', without a doubt, Manny Pacquiao would have won, judge Duane Ford told Yahoo Sports. But it was not. I gave an honest opinion. I had Pacquiao up 4-2, I think, at the end of six rounds. I thought he hurt Bradley a couple of times early in the fight. But when the bell rang to end that round, it was over, and what happens in one round doesn't carry over to the next round. They're separate units.

In the second half of the fight, Pacquiao picked off a lot of punches to the head, but Bradley landed some hard body shots. That hurt Pacquiao. I don't mean it hurt him in the sense of it physically hurting him, but in terms of scoring and piling up points. Bradley did an excellent job standing his ground as a boxer. Remember, it's a boxing match and Bradley demonstrated his ability to box expertly.