Manny should have won, says WBO review

The World Boxing Organisation (WBO)  ruled Wednesday that Manny Pacquiao should have won his controversial defeat to Timothy Bradley and has recommended a  re-match between the fighters. American Bradley won a split decision at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on June 10 that prompted disbelief from the sporting world and had many calling the outcome corrupt. The WBO met with five international judges to evaluate video of the match and they unanimously scored the fight in favour of Pacquiao, though they do not have power to overturn the initial ruling and the result will still stand. Pacquiao said yesterday that the WBO panel ruling that he had won his controversial bout against Bradley would help restore people’s faith in the sport. “I hope with this ruling the public’s faith in boxing would be restored,” 33-year-old Pacquiao said by phone from his home in the southern Philippines. “I was not surprised by the WBO ruling. I knew that I won, so did the whole world. But that is already over and I am now focusing on the next fight.” He said he and his promoter Bob Arum would discuss his next move in a Los Angeles meeting set for next week, but remained coy on who would be his next opponent. “We will soon find out who I will fight next,” he said, when asked if he was aiming for a rematch against US fighter Bradley. Bradley snatched Pacquiao’s welterweight belt via a split decision, with two judges scoring it 115-113 for the American and a third scoring it 115-113 for Pacquiao. With the win, Bradley snapped Pacquiao’s 15-fight, seven-year winning streak. The decision sparked outrage in the boxing-crazy Philippines and in the US, where two senators pushed for the creation of a national boxing commission to regulate the sport. Arum questioned the competence of the judges and pressed for an inquiry from the Nevada attorney general’s office. Pacquiao is a social phenomenon in the Philippines, where his status as one of the greatest boxers ever has propelled him to huge riches, a movie career and election to parliament.