Editor’s note: For part 1, please click here.
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The night American Timothy Bradley decisioned Manny Pacquiao to become only the second man to beat the Filipino in 13 years, Bradley offered a review of Pacquiao’s recent stamina needs and a preview, truthfully, of what would have befallen him against Marquez had Pacquiao remained conscious after the sixth round of their fourth match. Pacquiao’d deteriorated steadily, not greatly, since stopping Miguel Cotto at the end of 2009, and while Bradley, a junior welterweight champion, did not do well as expected in his career’s second fight at 147 pounds, he was not imperiled by the first three or four punches in any combination Pacquiao threw. Only in the congressman’s maniacal and red-gloved flurries, regressions as well to an earlier form, did Bradley sometimes wither.
Accustomed as they were to Pacquiao’s stunning men considerably larger, consenting ringside observers missed in November what poor footwork accompanied Pacquiao’s fatigue against Marquez – how many more steps he took to make late rounds close – and did not notice, subsequently, how few of Pacquiao’s punches, acrobatic things thrown by a man overshooting his target in a wraparound compromise between power and agility, affected Bradley, once felled in the opening round of a 140-pound title defense.
Next Saturday all the hallmarks of Chavez Jr.’s character deficiencies were on display when, sluggish and cramped from acute weightloss before his middleweight title match with Lee, Junior played punchingbag to the light-hitting Irishman till regaining his mobility in round 3, a mobility Sergio Martinez would not let him find till the 34th minute of their middleweight championship match three months later.
That Chavez Jr. wanted character was unknown to no one. That Chavez Jr. moved from mascot to contender was unsurprising to no one. Anyone later jolted by footage of Chavez’s unconventional roadwork, in pink, or uncovered choice of supplements, in green, was not previously attentive to Chavez, and was not to blame for that choice either.
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The night American Timothy Bradley decisioned Manny Pacquiao to become only the second man to beat the Filipino in 13 years, both men said decent things about the other afterwards. Whatever their differences of opinion about the judges’ verdict, Bradley was appreciative of the opportunity Pacquiao afforded him and Pacquiao was unbothered by the honest if not particularly ferocious match Bradley gave him – along with another payday, four parts reward for each part risk. Pacquiao did not stomp from the ring to conduct a naked interview in his dressing room the way Marquez did after their third fight, he did not call for an investigation, he did not ask his promoter to petition local politicians or pester them haplessly about the outcome. (He didn’t need to.) Instead Pacquiao smiled gently, took questions generously and said pleasant things about his host city in a way that reminded some media-center habitués how differently, sheepishly, he’d behaved after his official victory over Marquez in November.
Writing a report for the AP is a feat of organization more than creativity: 250 words five minutes after the close, 500 words 10 minutes after that, 700-800 words within a half hour of the event’s conclusion. The very promotional outfit that joined a loud chorus of those who’d like to know what three credentialed idiots scored Bradley-Pacquiao for the winner, Saturday at ringside, then passed my name to an AP editor on Tuesday – in case anyone wonders why writers have a preference for Top Rank.
Chavez-Lee was nothing historic, but it led to 2012’s most suspenseful 90 seconds, 89 days and 11 rounds later.
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The night American Timothy Bradley decisioned Manny Pacquiao to become only the second man to beat the Filipino in 13 years tore from our discourse its diaphanous veil of civility. Emboldened by the very consensus they rabidly sought, persons gathered ostensibly for a sporting event turned into boisterous misanthropes, people who got along with no one who had not seen things exactly as they did. Businesses, too, said someone had to be sacrificed to ensure the drawing power of boxing’s best prizefighter was not lost, and that someone was Timothy Bradley. If Bradley and his people did not realize it at the moment, they surely won a fair inkling when the following week’s replay was accompanied by a talkshow feature called “The Smoking Gun” that introduced viewers to the delightful spectacle of a televised fight sans vocal track, while proving none of its conspiratorial implications.
What Chavez showed shortly after that spectacle was chin and a willingness to prove it against the onslaught of a lesser puncher’s blows. It was, again, a preview: Chavez for all his want of character would not hesitate to rise from his stool after 11 hopeless rounds in which he was struck by more than 300 of the world middleweight champion’s punches. He was a spoiled brat and a flake, in June as in September, but not a punk.
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The night American Timothy Bradley decisioned Manny Pacquiao to become only the second man to beat the Filipino in 13 years was the last time Bradley fought in 2012. Pacquiao would forsake the rematch Bradley promised him because, again, everyone knew he’d won, and choose instead a higher-paying match with a nemesis that put him on ice.
Chavez fought Lee as no one in Kronk’s yellow and red accoutrement had, gladly conceding skill and reflex to the Irishman if it meant a chance to hit often as he was hit-by. Lee did not fight again in 2012, and instead, four months later, helped bury Manny Steward, a man who in their time together was much more than a trainer crushed by what happened in Sun Bowl Stadium.
From the result of Bradley-Pacquiao to its subsequent fallout and what charms El Paso held as host of Chavez-Lee, I remember the week that began the night of June 9 as 2012’s most interesting.
Bart Barry can be reached at bart.barrys.email (at) gmail.com
