It was Pacquiao’s first defeat since he lost to Erik Morales in Las Vegas in March 2005, ending a run of 15 consecutive wins by the Filipino who has won world titles in an unprecedented eight weight divisions.
Fight promoter Bob Arum lambasted the judges afterwards in the post-fight news conference.
“I’ve never been as ashamed to be associated with the sport of boxing as I am tonight,” he said. “This is a fight that respected people scored 11-1, 10-2 to Pacquiao. They said that Bradley was trying hard but that this was a mis-match.
“Desert Storm” Bradley, a 5-1 underdog against Pacquiao, improved his perfect record to 29-0 with 12 knockouts, while Pacquiao slipped to 54-4-2 with 38 knockouts.
Judge Jerry Roth (115-113) awarded the fight to Pacquiao while CJ Ross (115-113) and Duane Ford (115-113) gave it to the American, but the crowd responded with boos after 12 rounds which the Filipino had appeared to dominate.
