Pacquiao-Mayweather: Pacquiao wins this week’s round on the public-opinion scorecards

Judges have been tough during the last week on the only two fighters the general public knows.

First, three judges score against Manny Pacquiao in a split decision met by unanimous outrage. Then, Melissa Saragosa, a Las Vegas justice of the peace, hands down a judgment denying Mayweather’s motion to finish his 87-day sentence at home instead of jail, the Big Boy Mansion instead of the Big House.

A controversial boxing decision and an attempt to escape jail time might be as comparable as Pacquiao’s suite at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay and Mayweather’s lonely cell at Nevada’s Clark County Detention Center. There weren’t any mints on Mayweather’s pillow to console him on the night after Saragosa said no Wednesday to his attorney’s emergency filing 10 days into his sentence for domestic abuse.

Nevertheless, I can’t help but think that the way each behaved in the face of recent adversity says something about how they are perceived — at least this week — by all of those judges in the court of public opinion.

Pacquiao won.

Mayweather lost.

Pacquiao exhibited Ernest Hemingway’s definition of courage – grace under pressure. While saying he thought he won, Pacquiao also said he did his best. His best, he said Saturday night, just wasn’t good enough for the judges. Accept it, use it as motivation and move on.

A couple of days later, Mayweather’s attorney files a motion that makes him sound like Paris Hilton. He has to drink tap water instead of bottled water. The jailhouse menu doesn’t include any of the meals his personal chef prepares. What did Mayweather expect? Twenty-four-hour room service?

It’s impossible to really know how Mayweather would have reacted to the split-decision that went against Pacquiao in his loss to Timothy Bradley. But it’s fair to wonder. The guess in this corner is that he would have raged into the night with bursts of profanity and perhaps tears. We’ve seen both, especially in his up-and-down relationship with Larry Merchant of Home Box Office, which will replay the controversial fight Saturday night as part of a telecast featuring the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.- Andy Lee bout in El Paso, Tex.

There’s a lot to like about Mayweather. In early May, it looked as if he was winning his fight with Pacquiao in the court of public opinion, which might be the only place we’ll ever see them fight.

He beat Miguel Cotto in an admirable, bruising confrontation. He apologized to Merchant and conducted a civil interview in the middle of the ring after the bout. Mayweather looked and acted like a grown-up. At the time, Pacquiao’s reputation was taking a beating for issues involving taxes and customs at home in the Philippines.

After the last week, however, it’s hard to know whether Pacquiao or Mayweather is the overall leader in the court of public opinion, which might be the only way to decide who deserves to be the pound-for-pound champ. You be the judge.

NOTES, QUOTES
For the record: In a freelance gig for the New York Times, I quit scoring Pacquiao-Bradley after seven rounds. I had Pacquiao leading, six rounds to one. I thought it was over. I started writing a story about a Pacquiao victory. Rookie mistake. After deleting the lead and re-writing in Usain Bolt time, I watched a replay. I scored it 116-112, — eight rounds to four – for Pacquiao.

Just when you think you’ve seen it all: Bradley, tough and admirable, has to be the first fighter to show up at a post-fight news conference as a winner in a wheelchair. He suffered injuries to both ankles in the early rounds while scrambling to get away from a lethal left thrown by Pacquiao, who emerged from the fight unmarked. Those Pacquiao lefts might be boxing’s version of basketball’s ankle-breaking moves.

AZ NOTES
Junior-welterweight Azriel Paez (2-0) is featured in the main event Saturday night at Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix against Michael Salcido (1-3) of Eloy, Ariz. Paez’ dad is the entertaining ex-featherweight champ Jorge Paez, who is expected to be at ringside. Roger Mayweather, Floyd’s trainer and uncle, also is expected to work the corner for fighters he trains in Las Vegas.

The card is scheduled for 10 fights, including David Benavidez — the younger brother of unbeaten Phoenix junior-welterweight prospect Jose Benavidez Jr. — in one of two amateur bouts. First bell is scheduled for 7 p.m.