I'm seeing a clearer picture from the Pac v Bradley fight that I think is quite obvious and enough other people have pointed it out ... but my immediate reaction was quite simple; great marketing. It's a much stronger promotional outcome with the split decision in the fight. Arum gets to promote a rematch with two fighters both contracted to him, doesn't need to secure another fighter had Pac won and builds Bradley's name in the process. Despite the uproar it's a result that will build massive hype for the rematch when the dust settles around the controversy. Nothing sells like drama and that drama will be turned into a WWE style angle as the rematch gets closer I expect with a bunch of cliches ("the return of the true champ", "the rightful owner of the belt", etc) not to mention the stories available to write about .. (will bradley improve, will Pac have lost another step in six months, will the winner face Mayweather, etc) to keep interest high over the next few months in the build up. No wonder the promoters were smiling at the end. Well played. Oh, I thought Pac won btw.
There were quite a few odd things going on. How sure Timmeh was of a rematch and was already promoting it. If you're genuinely confident of whooping someone's AZZ the way Timmeh was acting, you would think all you need is ONE shot to convincingly win. How emmanuel did not try much for the first two minutes of each round and lost all the championship rounds. Being an elite fighter for years surely he must know that the final rounds are usually the most important.
Great points .. The primary one being that the rematch had already been seeded in the media and pr build up even before the fight had taken place. Whether Pac and Bradley were considering this as a possible outcome diesnt really matter ... The script couldn't have been written any better.
The funny thing is i believe that Pac and Bradley is in this one too and they already knew it beforehand.
The post fight reactions were strangely subdued ... And the mention of making money on the rematch supports it further.
