Pacquiao mourns Sen. McCain's death
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 28 Aug 2018
John McCain.
Filipino boxing great and now Senator Manny Pacquiao joined the family of the late U.S. Senator John McCain and the American people in mourning the death of the Arizona lawmaker.
Sen. McCain, a noted politician-sportsman, former presidential candidate and former naval aviator, passed away on Saturday of brain cancer. He was 81.
?Sen. McCain is a strong supporter of sports, particularly boxing. His death is a big loss, not only to boxing, but sports as a whole,? the eight-division champion and current WBA belt-owner said in paying tribute to his fallen fellow lawmaker.
?I join his family, the American people and the entire sports community, particularly the boxing world, in mourning his death,? Pacquiao told this writer in a long distance call.
Sen. McCain, who fought as an amateur while at the U.S Naval Academy, is remembered as one of the many who raised a loud howl after Pacquiao?s controversial split decision loss to then undefeated Timothy Bradley in the first of the two fighters? trilogy on June 9, 2012.
Two of the judges who worked the welterweight fight submitted identical 115-113 for Bradley, while the other scored it 115-113 for Pacquiao, that caused the Filipino to lose his 147-pound WBO crown.
So enraged was the public?s outcry that Bradley?s disputed win became one of the most controversial decisions in the history of boxing, forcing WBO president Francisco ?Paco? Valcarcel to create an independent five-man panel of judges to review the decision.
The results of the review of the judges, who were all accomplished with world title experience, saw Pacquiao the winner by a unanimous 118-110, 117-111, 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113.
The controversy even reached the hall of the U.S. Senate with McCain and Nevada counterpart Majority Leader Harry Reid, a former middleweight fighter himself, filing a bill calling for the establishment of a U.S. Boxing Commission to oversee all matches in the United States and restore integrity to the sport of sweet science.
Under the proposed legislation, all referees and judges participating in a championship or a professional fight lasting 10 rounds or more would have to be fully registered and licensed by the commission. A sanctioning organization could provide the names of judges and referees it considers qualified for that caliber bout, but only the commission could appoint judges and referees to participate in the matches.
Speaking on the Senate floor, McCain invoked the words of former sportswriter Jimmy Cannon, who called boxing the ?red light of sports.?
McCain, who also authored the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act of 1998, said the recent dispute stemming from the welterweight bout between Bradley and Pacquiao ?is the latest example of the legitimate distrust boxing fans have for the integrity of the sport.?
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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