'Battle of Brisbane' judges may have had 'unfair bias' against Pacquiao —sports analyst

A sports analyst on Monday said the judges may have had an "unfair bias" against Manny Pacquiao for not being the usual "reckless, crazy" fighter in the "Battle of Brisbane."

Sev Sarmenta explained in an interview with Unang Balita that the three judges could be lookig for Pacquiao's signature aggression during his match with Australian Jeff Horn.

"Hinahanap nila yung lumang Pacquiao. This is not the same Manny Pacquiao," Sarmenta said. "Ako ang feeling ko, may unfair bias. They're looking for that reckless, crazy, nagwawala na Manny Pacquiao na aggressive."

"Ang tendency nga ng mga judges lalo na ngayon, I saw that nung [Timothy] Bradley fight, hinahanap nila yung Pacquiao nung araw. Hindi na mangyayari yun, at kita natin sa ninth round, huminto si Manny, parang bakit nakatayo pa 'to? Binigay na niyang lahat eh," he added.

Sarmenta added that Waleska Roldan's score of 117-111 was too disparate from Chris Flores and Ramon Cerdan's 115-113, especially on the breakdown of their scores per round.

"Tingan mo yung score, 117 to 111, napakalaki ng disparity," Sarmenta said.

He said that the four categories used by boxing judges in scoring matches are:

• effective aggression
• ring generalship
• defense
• hard and clean punches

He said his personal score of the bout was 115-113 in favor of Pacquiao.

Sarmenta also noticed that the fight's referee neglected to warn Horn for his repeated infractions.

"Talagang dapat binigyan ng warning. Sa professional boxing, normal 'yan, pero 'pag nagdiin, dapat 'yan may warning, dapat sinabihan na don't do that. Unfair advantage, tsaka yung headlock," said Sarmenta.

Age factor

Sarmenta, meanwhile, said that age is already catching up on Pacquiao's performance. He said it was visible in the ninth round.

"Yung Horn, hindi tumumba. Merong kulang. Napapagod na rin si Manny, diniinan, nine, eight rounds nag-travel bago dumaan sa puntong yun," he said.

Horn, meanwhile, made a mistake generally made by opponents bigger than Pacquiao, except for Antonio Margarito, by trying to match punches with the Pound for Pound king when his strategy of tying the Filipino's offense failed.

"Strategy from the start, 'wag mong pauumpisahin 'yan si Pacquiao, diinan mo, tanggalin mo yung lakas, kasi nakakatanggal nga," Sarmenta explained.

"Ang sinabi ng kanyang koponan, talian mo, talian mo, pagurin mo, tapos kung may possibility of knockout, 'pag pagod na sa 8th, 9th — kaso lumakas si Manny nung 9th, sige na, upakan mo na," he continued. "So 'yun na yung nangyari, naubusan na rin si Manny."

When asked to comment on Pacquiao's remarks on the decision tarnishing the name of boxing as a sport, Sarmenta said boxers like Pacquiao helped lift boxing from its seedy roots to the multi-billion sport it is today.

"Yung karaniwang tag line ng boxing, it's the 'red light district of sports,'" he said. "Pero dahil kay Pacquiao at sa saka sa ibang boksingero ay naangat yung sport. Kaso nga, itong judging ay masyadong subjective." —Rie Takumi/ALG, GMA News