Pacquiao loses in split decision to Bradley

Manny Pacquiao, from the Philippines, right, lands a punch against Timothy Bradley, from Palm Springs, Calif., in their WBO world welterweight title fight Saturday, June 9, 2012, in Las Vegas. AP Photo/Chris Carlson

MANILA, Philippines – American Timothy Bradley stunned the world and claimed the WBO Welterweight title by outpointing pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao via split decision Sunday (Manila Time) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Although it appeared that Pacquiao hurt Bradley throughout the fight, all judges scored 115-113, two in favor of the still undefeated Bradley and one for Pacquiao, who suffered his first defeat in seven years.

Bradley hung tough in the first few rounds and came out impressive in the final three, connecting with his lightning speed jabs and great combinations and making it ultimately hard for Pacquiao to get inside.

Bradley, who says he has never trained harder in his life, improved his record to 29-0-1 with 12 KOs while Pacquiao slid to 54-42 with 38 KOs.

With the loss, Pacquiao, who has not knocked out an opponent since 2009, snapped an impressive 15-fight winning streak. His last loss was to Erik Morales in 2005.

Pacquiao came out blistering in the first few rounds but Bradley has matched his intensity all throughout, and managed to elude the Filipino boxing great’s dangerous combinations and a knockout. With a report from AFP