Bradley Over Pacquiao: Boxing’s Biggest Sham Ever? See It Again Saturday on HBO!

Last month, I thought I was reading too much into the Tim Keown ESPN Magazine Floyd Mayweather cover story, “Everything’s On Me,” when it discussed Bob Arum. It didn’t say much.

Only that Floyd, who prior to his recent incarceration spent a lot of time in Atlanta, had “divorced himself from promoter Bob Arum’s Top Rank by paying out a $750,000 buyout clause. Arum had offered Mayweather an $8 million guarantee to fight Antonio Margarito. The fighter and promoter disagreed wildly on Mayweather’s worth, and Arum publicly scoffed at Floyd’s contention that a fight with De La Hoya could earn him $20 million.”

Well, the 2007 fight went on to earn more than $200 million overall. According to the story, Mayweather said “he went from making $5 million to $7 million per fight to at least five times that in each of his five fights since splitting with Arum."

Last night’s shocking split decision favoring Timothy Bradley over Manny Pacquiao didn't do much to dispel any belief that Arum is a crook. Almost everyone, from the public to boxers themselves and the analysts, who watched agree that Pacquiao solidly won. For most, it wasn't even close.

The decision is so shocking that Bleacher Report ran the story “Bob Arum: Boxing Must Rid Itself of Shady Promoter." Skip Bayless of ESPN’s First Take tweeted: “I’d nearly finished a tweet about how I still believe Pacman would beat Mayweather when the most bogus verdict in boxing history came down.”

Lenox Lewis tweeted “Pac won the fight. Bradley won the decision. Aurum [sic] won another payday. Boxing lost its integrity and the fans lost confidence.”

Was the fight fixed? If so, did Arum fix it because he doesn’t want Pacquiao and Mayweather to meet in a fight where he probably won’t make a dime? Or is there a bigger payday for Top Rank in a re-match?

Ryan Stewart, one-half of the Atlanta sports radio show, 2 Live Stews, on 790 AM, was in Vegas for the fight and tweeted "PAC rnd 11, Bradley has to get a KO to win" just before the decision. To which, he tweeted "WHAT" and then "What a joke, congratulations Bradley!" He also added, "We just saw the #BusinessOfBoxing. The rematch is worth more $."

For those who want to see the fight for the first time or see it again, Now Boxing is reporting that HBO will air an encore of the HBO Pay-Per-View fight on Saturday, June 16 just before the Cesar Chavez Jr. and Andy Lee middleweight championship bout.

But brace yourself because talk of this fight hasn't died down. Expect even more outrage on sports shows on both television and radio.

[A version of this story appears on www.blackontv.wordpress.com]