Judges won’t have say next time—Pacquiao

LAS VEGAS—Manny Pacquiao wants another shot at Timothy Bradley, and next time he’ll make sure the ring judges won’t have a say on the outcome of the fight: He hopes to knock Bradley out.

“I want a rematch,” Pacquiao declared after Bradley claimed his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title with a split decision victory that stunned many.

“In the rematch, my thinking is I don’t want to finish the whole 12 rounds,” Pacquiao, considered by many the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, told reporters.

The unbeaten Bradley—the WBO light welterweight champion—absorbed punishing blows in almost every round while rarely appearing able to hurt the Filipino superstar.

A surprise

Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, said he was surprised when the first judge’s score was read out, giving it 115-113 to Pacquiao—which he thought was a little close.

Still “it wasn’t as bad as the other two,” Roach said, referring to the decision of the two other ringside judges who voted for Bradley.

Fight with Marquez

Pacquiao said he was so sure he had won the fight that he wasn’t even paying attention when the result was read out.

Roach said he didn’t know if Pacquiao’s narrow decision over Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in his last fight in November last year worked against him on this night.

“I’m not sure if our last fight had something to do with it because our last fight was a very close fight and a little controversial. Did they hold that against us? I’m not sure,” Roach said.

This time, Roach said: “I didn’t see that many close rounds.”

‘I like knockouts’

Roach was heard exhorting Pacquiao to go for a knockout in the 12th round, but he said that wasn’t because he thought his fighter was trailing.

“I like knockouts,” Roach said.

It was an especially disappointing outcome for Pacquiao given he had hoped for a decisive victory in the wake of his unconvincing win over Marquez.

He came into the fight saying he had been buoyed in body as well as in spirit by rededicating his life to God, devoting time to Bible study and cutting out pursuits, including gambling, drinking and womanizing that had stressed his marriage in the lead-up to his last bout. AFP