By John F. McKenna (McJack): New World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (29-0-1NC, 12 KO’s) has not been able to enjoy his title reign thus far. “Desert Storm” won an extremely controversial decision over former WBO champ Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KO’s) on June 9 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.

Bradley cannot understand why boxing fans have been taking out the unpopular decision on him. In Bradley’s opinion the fight was close and could have gone either way. He maintains that the criticism he has received has been unfair. After all, Bradley did not participate in the scoring of the fight.

“Desert Storm” is also mystified that the Pacquiao camp now does not appear to be that anxious to engage him in a rematch. Instead the name of WBO lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KO’s) who has already fought “Pacman” three times has resurfaced as a possible opponent. Pacquiao defeated Marquez last November in a fight that really was close, but many boxing fans felt that “El Dinamita” had done enough to get the win. It is thought by boxing insiders that Marquez with his huge fan base would draw many more fans than Bradley against Pacquiao.

Let’s face it the vast majority of boxing fans feel that Pacquiao was robbed of a decision in the Bradley fight in a match which was not even close. It is also thought by some boxing observers that the outrageous decision following the Bradley – Pacquiao fight turned off a multitude of boxing fans. The reasoning continues that the bad taste left in the mouths of so many boxing fans would make it nearly impossible to generate any substantial amount of Pay Per View (PPV) sales with another Bradley – Pacquiao fight.

When you look at the big picture as Top Rank CEO Bob Arum must certainly be doing Bradley has never been known to have the ability to attract fans in significant numbers. His pity pat punches and low KO ratio is a huge factor in boxing fans not wanting to pay money to watch him fight. Imagine the difficulty in promoting another Bradley – Pacquiao fight after the horrendous scoring in Las Vegas on June 9.

Bradley was not Bob Arum’s first choice to fight Pacquiao. The first choice would have been new WBA light middleweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (43-0, 26 KO’s). When his first choice fell through Uncle Bob set his sights on then WBA light middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (37-3, 30 KO’s). When Mayweather and Cotto opted to fight each other it left Arum holding the bag so to speak and he had to settle for Bradley. Promoting Bradley with his low fan base was truly a daunting task, even if your name is Bob Arum. The Top Rank CEO at this point is probably not keen on promoting Bradley – Pacquiao II.

The name of former WBA light middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (37-3, 30 KO’s) has also been mentioned as a possible opponent for Manny. Cotto lost a spirited fight on May 5 to new WBA light middleweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (43-0, 26 KO’s).

Bradley is frustrated that team Pacquiao may opt to fight either Marquez or Cotto instead of him. The perception by the vast majority of boxing fans is that Pacquiao defeated Bradley with room to spare and that is even if you have the volume of your TV turned down.

Bradley unfortunately will never be accepted as a true champion until he beats Pacquiao legitimately. Unthinkable as it may seem to him, he would make a major step in turning around fans opinion of him by acknowledging that he lost the fight to Pacquiao. A fighter knows when he is getting whipped and Bradley got whipped in his fight with “Pacman”. We are not talking as he claims that the fight could have gone either way. “Desert Storm” won two rounds, three at the most. Bradley’s body language gave it away during the fight. He looked for all the world like a fighter who was overmatched and acknowledged as much to Arum after the fight.

There are precedents for fighters who have acknowledged they lost even though they won on the judges scorecards. It takes class to do that. When Joe Louis received a gift decision win over Jersey Joe Walcott on December 5, 1948 he walked over to Walcott and apologized to him. Bradley would have been far better off if after the fight, he had acknowledged that he had lost. The fans know he lost and more importantly in his heart Bradley knows he lost.