The Final Score: Pacquiao-Bradley and the confusion it created

LAS VEGAS - The crowd marched out of the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Many were unsure of what they just saw. They exchanged puzzled looks. Some had raised eyebrows. Others shook their heads. I know this scene. Remember how moviegoers walked out of the theater after watching Sixth Sense? That's it. Trudging away from the scene of the crime, a crawling mass, mostly perplexed with how Manny Pacquiao versus Timothy Bradley turned out, wondered. What on earth happened? What in Lady Gaga’s name were those judges thinking? What the heck was that? Someone worriedly asked me during the eighth round, “Is Pacquiao winning?” I confidently answered, “Yup don’t worry. Pacquiao is winning easy.” The American in front of me felt the same. The Mexican-American on my left likewise agreed. It was effective diplomacy built by one man’s fists of fury. Even Timothy Bradley’s fans, two rows away, seemed to concur. They occasionally chanted “Brad-Ley! Brad-Ley! Brad-Ley!” until the sixth round. The same happy bunch decided to lift Bradley’s spirit by chanting “U-S-A! U-S-A!” until the seventh round. By the end of the fight, the silence of these well-meaning gentlemen became obvious. Then, Michael Buffer made the announcement. Then, someone sucked the life out of the arena. Then, I wanted to take back what I said earlier about Pacquiao winning easily. Then, I wanted to hide my over-confident face. Then, I realized, “Teka muna, I’m no Teddy Atlas, but I know what I saw.” Then, nagsalubong kilay ko. Then, I looked around and saw stunned spectators. Then, the wave of boos thundered from the 200-dollar seats all the way to Mark Wahlberg-Mike Tyson-VIP territory. I had to look back. 5 minutes ago. 10 minutes ago. The outcome seemed so obvious that fans were actually sitting back, enjoying their beer and exchanging stories with other fight fans by the ninth round. People around me were so relaxed, someone in the next row even shouted, “Don’t worry about the Celtics, Manny!” We laughed. I want to take that back too. We’re not laughing anymore. I feel a boxing match crushed whatever modest amount I knew about the sport. Hopefully, it’s just a temporary setback. Or…I may no longer know what differentiates domination from disintegration. I may no longer identify what separates a great outcome from a ghastly one. Or maybe, this is what boxing is. Perhaps, it is asking for too much to depend on what the eyes see. Boxing is a sweet, inexact, heart-stopping, mind-numbing, totally unpredictable science. I felt the vibe. People weren’t really upset. Many were happy to have witnessed a fun fight. They saw Pacquiao. They watched his moves. They followed the movement of his cherry-red gloves. Bucket list, check. Exasperation? Maybe for some. Confusion? Definitely for most. Listen, I’m no expert at anything. So I can comfortably say that I don’t know boxing. But for the coming weeks, when a controversial fight (or an even more confounding outcome) leaves fans and experts similarly befuddled, who really knows what boxing is anymore? - GMA News