Pacquiao vs. Bradley: Why Matt Hamilton Scored It A Draw

Pacquiao vs. Bradley: Why Matt Scored It A Draw

Initial thoughts…

The 10-point must scoring system is far from a perfect one. It allows for fighters to accumulate rounds they have only won by the slightest of margins & penalizes them rather meekly for rounds in which they were utterly dominated. To be sure this was hardly vintage Pacquiao & whilst he was the far more definitive winner of rounds that he won than was Tim Bradley in the rounds he won – the scoring system as it stands will always be vulnerable to instances such as this one – but these are the rules, the rules both fighters abide by – judging is less about scoring a fight than about judging 4,6,8,10 or 12 rounds on their individual merits.

Additionally we should note that by being the busier fighter more or less throughout Bradley was always likely to take marginal rounds on the judges scorecards. And whilst his Compubox connect numbers (which I find frankly dubious at times) appear modest – he had a significant volume of “near miss” punches – punches thrown that might not have connected flush; though that did land partially – another source of potential favor in the eyes of judges who we should remember are viewing & judging the fight in real-time.

Second viewing.. 

Round 1

Bradley round – busier.

Round 2

Bradley round – busier.

Round 3

Clear Pacquiao round.

Round 4

Clear Pacquiao round, verging on a 10-8 round but I had it as a 10-9.

Round 5

Clear Pacquiao round. 10-9.

Round 6

Clear Pacquiao round. 10-9.

Round 7

Clear Pacquiao round. 10-9.

Round 8

Simply don’t concur with the Compubox tally on connects here – Bradley busier – Bradley 10-9.

Round 9

This round could have been scored any of three ways – 10-9, 9-10 or indeed 10-10. On the balance of it I believe Bradley took this round for the following reason – when Pacquiao misses he tends to “miss big” – that is a round in which his connect percentage is well off tends to be interpreted as a sloppy/wild road – so whilst busier, he didn’t have the volume of “near misses” evident in a round in which Bradley (typically) was busier – that is you get productive busy & sloppy busy – don’t shoot the messenger.

Round 10

Bradley round – same connects according to Compubox – Bradley busier.

Round 11

I had this as a rather more clear Bradley round – looking at these figures – assuming their accuracy there is a clear argument for a Pacquiao round – 15 vs 6 power connects. Hmmm…

Round 12

Again Bradley busier by 20 shots thrown – add to that a 11 vs 10 power connect situation & this is essentially a round that is either a 10-10 or a 10-9 for Bradley for me…

Thus, upon reflection, I’d give:

Bradley – Rounds 1,2, 8, 9, 10 & 12.

Pacquiao – Rounds 3,4,5,6,7 & 11.

Changes from live scoring – Round 11 & Round 9. 

Second viewing scoring: 114-114 Draw.

Some pre-fight thoughts…

Earlier pre-fight analysis on Pacquiao vs. Bradley

 

 

Matt Hamilton, for ESNewsReporting!

2 Responses to “Pacquiao vs. Bradley: Why Matt Hamilton Scored It A Draw”

1. Alex K says:

   June 11, 2012 at 5:53 am

   Surely being busier should only count for something if it is completely unclear that one guy landed way more in a round?
   Most rounds on Saturday, i saw Pacquiao land WAY more on Bradley than the other way round.
   Sorry Matt, but i think you are wrong on this one.
   Whether you were just casually scoring the bout, or adhering to the strict criteria of the 10 point must system, Pacman won on Saturday. Comfortably.

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2. Jamie says:

   June 11, 2012 at 8:01 am

   I think that’s a good analysis. After watching the bout twice I had Pacquiao marginally winning it. I’m tired of the hysteria on this.

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