By Kristofer Williams Sr. You know you’re a poor sport when you’re still trying to justify you won a fight two weeks after it happened. Timothy Bradley, as well as Manny Pacquiao detractors, is still having a very difficult time dealing with the fact that the real WBO Welterweight Champion Manny Pacquiao defeated the undeserving Bradley on June 9th.

Bradley and Pacman cynics have gotten so emotional that they still continue to talk about the fight even though Manny himself has already moved on from the debacle. Yet these same detractors (the few of them that are left) continue to force feed their minds that Bradley won in spite of the WBO telling them otherwise. In Bradley’s recent interview with My.Desert.com, he continued to try to justify why he won in order to save himself from utter embarrassment and constantly made excuses for his two “bad” ankles and how Manny couldn’t finish him on two bad wheels. However, Bradley forgot to point out how he was able to successfully finish the fight running and pedaling backwards without an obvious limp. Clearly, he over-exaggerated the extent of his injuries.

It’s a real shame because you’d think people who claim they’ve watched and followed the sport a long time would be able to acknowledge the fact that Pacquiao won convincingly based on the four criteria judges use to tabulate a fight – ring generalship, clean punching, effective aggression, and effective defense.

Its obvious Pacquiao landed more shots than Bradley. Its obvious Pacquiao was the aggressor. Its obvious Bradley was in survival mode the entire bout. And it’s extremely likely that 95% of the people who saw the fight and 100% of fans who really know the sport would say Pacquiao defeated Bradley no questions asked.

In fact, considering the style of fight Bradley used on June 9, I’m not surprised why Freddie Roach thought Pacquiao looked rather impressive. When you land 253+ shots against a fighter in retreat for the majority of 12 rounds, it’s going to be hard to knockout a running opponent. Not to mention that opponent has a great chin, excellent durability, and the heart of a warrior. Yet Pacquiao still intimidated him and made him go backwards. Bradley found out early on that if you decide to trade shots with Pacquiao, you are going to get hurt. Bradley even admitted he was hurt badly by Manny several times in the fourth and fifth rounds.

One of the most highly respected ex-referees in the sport, Richard Steele, recently weighed in on the fight. For those of you who are not familiar with Steele, he was a boxer and trainer during the 60s and 70s and he refereed over 200 title fights in his career, among them the well know Marvin Hagler vs Thomas Hearns super-fight in the 80s that saw Hagler knockout the Hitman in three rounds. It is arguably the greatest three-round fight of all time between two of the greatest champions of all time.

Earlier this week Steele told Las Vegas Weekly when asked about the Pac-Bradley fight: “I definitely thought Pacquiao won the fight, without a doubt. It wasn’t even close. It was eight rounds to four for me. Those are the blind eyes that are going to end up killing boxing.”

I also had it eight rounds to four after watching the fight several times with and without commentary. Initially, I thought it was nine rounds to three but I ended up giving Bradley the last three rounds in addition to round two, which is probably how Steele had it. Meanwhile, the less knowledgeable continue to whine, wallow, and gloat about the Pacquiao “loss,” trying so desperately to discredit his supposedly fading skills.

And how do you know Steele is telling the truth and isn’t speaking with bias? Because when asked who he thought would win if Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather were to face each other inside that squared circle, he said, “Mayweather all the way. He’s just a hell of a fighter.” The man is straight up, tells it like it is, without any agendas. Bottom line: Pacquiao beat Bradley and beat him decisively. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

It’s so funny that even Bradley himself started to actually believe he won the fight when immediately after the fight he expressed doubt by saying he needed to review the tape to see if he won or not. Then, when Bradley had to justify the decision a week and a half later, he began to act out of character (he is normally a classy dude) and started downplaying Pacquiao’s virtuoso performance and started accusing people of hating against him. It’s too funny if you ask me. How is it hate when it’s the truth Bradley lost in the eyes of millions?

There’s only one explanation for Bradley’s and all the Pacquiao detractors’ behavior – cognitive dissonance. You know, it’s when you smoke when you know smoking is unhealthy so you find ways in your mind to deflect the actual truth about the harmful effects of smoking.

Steele said the Pac-Bradley decision was “one of the worst” he had ever seen in his 50+ years in the sport. “It was definitely bad,” he added. While laughing he said, “Not even close.” But apparently, Bradley, in his interview with Mydesert.com, still believes in his mind that he won.

Like they say, ignorance is bliss. I’ll leave it at that.