Philippineindex.com

“When God closes doors, He opens windows.”

This declaration of faith on how God works in mysterious ways could yet be proven true once again in the strange case of Manny Pacquiao’s controversial loss to American Timothy Bradley.

Following the inexplicable decision of boxing judges CJ Ross and Duane Ford which saw Bradley winning over Pacquiao by split decision after a one-sided 12 round fight June 10 in Las Vegas, I was pressed by friends for enlightenment on how and why that most reviled decision happened at all.

I volunteered three explanations.

First, it could have been an honest mistake on the part of the two judges.

CJ Ross and Duane Ford are human beings just like us. Their hearts could succumb to pity and sympathy.

And given the fact that Bradley was never even considered as a threat to Pacquiao, their pity towards the American fighter may have led them to give the few close rounds in the first half of the fight to the challenger.

“I will just give this round to Bradley, anyway he has no chance of surviving or winning against Pacquiao,” may have been the thought that was in the minds of both Ross and Ford.

Problem was Bradley clearly won the last three rounds, which were the only rounds I believe should have been given to the American challenger.

Ross and Ford had no other choice but to give those rounds to Bradley, which when added to the “pity” rounds yielded early on in the fight totalled to a won fight for the American challenger.

Second, one has to understand the history of Las Vegas, a city which was reportedly established by the mob and thrives on gambling, to interpret the questionable decision.

Add to that the reports that there was a strange surge in betting in favor of Bradley shortly before the fight to put more spice on the belief that unseen hands may have been involved in bringing about that controversial decision.

Was this the reason why Bradley, even when he obviously realized that he was behind on points, opted to just function in a survival mode during the last few rounds?

Would not a fighter who knows he is behind on points, give his all in the last few rounds and hope to score a knockout to win the fight?

Third, interpret the fight from the business perspective.

Pacquiao winning that fight would have brought about an almost empty horizon with nobody of respectable quality to give him a challenge in perhaps the last two fights of his boxing career.

With the loss, there is automatically a return bout with Bradley which could be very interesting to boxing fans like me.

I really would like to watch that fight because I relish the thought of Manny Pacquiao putting Bradley in his proper place—the canvas for a full count of 10.

And after that, the megabuck fight with Floyd Mayweather could now be a reality.

You see, Manny Pacquiao, while he really won that fight against Bradley, looked old as he chased the American challenger around the ring.

There was none of the rapid fire punches that marked his previous fights against the likes of Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, David Diaz, Miguel Cotto, Oscar De La Hoya and Antonio Margarito.

Inside his prison cell, Mayweather obviously saw that and he could be salivating at the prospect of fighting an old and slow Pacquiao when he gets out of jail.

One sorry loss for two exciting fights that could close his boxing career?

That’s not a very bad trade off.

Indeed, when God closes doors, He opens windows.