By Yannis Mihanos: On April 12 at MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, Nevada a big title fight will take place in the long awaited rematch between Tim “Desert Storm” Bradley and Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao. The reason why it’s been so highly anticipated is not because of the excitement that it may give, but also because of the controversy that it was created the first time.
Although the first match was a mismatch with Pacquiao the clear victor, somehow Bradley was rewarded with a points split decision. Immediately afterwards Pacquiao expressed no intention in fighting Bradley again. But what it did follow, made him change his mind.
The public outrage after the fight was enormous and under fire came not only the judges and Tim Bradley but also their mutual promoter Bob Arum. In the aftermath of the fight, Bob Arum had to deal with serious accusations about him involved with the judges’ decision.
I recall a fight when Floyd Mayweather Jr fought Juan Manuel Marquez in 2009, it was a mismatch and Mayweather won by a comfortable unanimous decision. The judges were present in that fight and so there was no other controversy involved and no interest in fighting ever again Marquez.
Last November, Pacquiao defeated Brandon Rios by a comfortable 12 round decision. It was again a mismatch with no controversy followed. Again no intention in fighting ever Rios was expressed and that was expected .
It’s a fact that one sided victories create little to zero interest from reoccurring again, unless there is a very good reason for them to happen, unless there is some controversy involved with them.
In boxing the same fighters can have 2, 3 even 4 and 5 matches together depending on the level of competition, excitement and public demand. The best example that I can think of, was the epic three matches of Arturo Gatti and Mickey Ward and more recently the 4 matches of Pacquiao with Marquez.
There is also another element that people experience in boxing: “Stuff happens” every little while a game goes wrong. We saw that very recently with the Danny Garcia vs. Mauricio Herrera fight. The same thing also with the first fight between Julio Chavez Jr and Brian Vera and a few others last year.
So as long there is some injustice involved it will always be a good reason for fighters to fight again. There are some key elements involved like redemption. I personally prefer to watch competitive matches, matches that keep me tied into my chair until the end but that’s just me. One thing though that I do have to admit is that a defeat can only be replenished by a victory; there is just no other way. In the case of Tim Bradley and Manny Pacquiao, it is just the only way.
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