Manny Pacquiao lost his WBO welterweight title to undefeated American challenger Timothy Bradley Saturday night as judges returned a controversial split decision against the Pac-Man.

Almost everyone else who watched the fight thought Pacquiao had won the fight; he landed nearly 100 punches more than Bradley. However, when the results came back from the judges two of them scored the bout 115-113 in Bradley's favor. The other judge scored the fight the same margin but in Pacquiao's favor.

Even though Pacquiao landed more punches in 10 out of the 12 rounds, two out of the three judges scored the bout in favor of Bradley. The announcement resulted in a huge and overwhelming chorus of boos from the Las Vegas crowd as well as astonished reactions from TV commentators.

It is the first loss Pacquiao has suffered in seven years. But a super-money rematch looks likely to be immediately scheduled for later this year, in a fight that will now be sure to attract every boxing fan's attention.

Following the announcement Bradley said, "I thought I won. I didn't think he was as good as everyone says he was. I didn't feel his power."

However, promoter Bob Arum, who has contracts with both fighters, was left stunned by the decision. He said, "Can you believe that? Unbelievable. I went over to Bradley before the decision and he said, 'I tried hard but I couldn't beat the guy."

Seemingly indicating Bradley knew he hadn't done enough to take the crown from Pacquiao.

The first half of the fight, saw Pacquiao slowly but surely imposing himself more and more on his opponent. By the fifth round Bradley looked like he was in trouble, and was struggling with an injured foot.

Most rounds saw Bradley coming out strongly but soon fall away, to allow Pacquiao to fight back and end each round well on top. Pacquiao for sure landed a lot more heavy hits on his opponent than he seemed to receive, which is why fans erupted with jeers when the results came out.

Pacquiao was being his usual self and even smiling following the result, but he was clearly in shock and a bit lost for words at the verdict. He said: "I did my best [but] I guess my best wasn't good enough. He never hurt me with his punches, most of them landed on my arms."

Arum said in the aftermath, "I'm going to make a lot of money on the rematch, but this [decision] was outrageous."

The result is reminiscent to last year's Amir Khan vs. Lamont Peterson bout. British Khan lost his WBA and IBF light-welterweight titles in that fight following a hugely controversial decision for the American fighter in Washington.

Khan also commented after the fight, "I was shocked more than anything. Manny won the fight clearly - I gave him it by at least eight points.

"I only gave Bradley a couple of rounds and they were very close."

Below is a video of the pre-fight press conference build-up.

Tags
Manny Pacquiao, Timothy bradley, Boxing