Two judges fail to see Marquez’s grasp of Pacquiao

Wear it proudly.

I will never understand how NFL referees so badly miss that pass interference penalty, never understand how Major League Baseball umpires miss so many calls at home plate, never understand how supposedly professional boxing officials miss scoring fights in such ridiculous fashion.

It’s comical.

The boos raining down upon the MGM Grand Garden were justified here late Saturday night, but instead of showering them upon Manny Pacquiao, they should have been pointed at those who awarded him a majority decision victory against Marquez.

The first fight between these two ended in a draw and the second in a split decision win by one point for Pacquiao and this in another controversial finish on a night when the guy with world titles in eight weight classes couldn’t get to Marquez as overwhelming odds had predicted.

Pacquiao had been irked that Marquez, when in Manila and campaigning for a rematch, wore a shirt declaring himself the winner of the previous fights. The ploy doesn’t seem so silly now.

One of the final thoughts Marquez offered before Saturday was that he hoped those scoring rounds would offer him a fair shake.

I guess word never reached the trio.

It absolutely didn’t reach judge Glenn Trowbridge.

“This is the second robbery,” Marquez said. “I don’t know what I have to do in the ring to beat this guy.”

At best, and this is giving Pacquiao every ounce of leeway for being the WBO welterweight champion, you could have scored it a draw at 114-114, which judge Robert Hoyle did.

Dave Moretti scored is 115-113 for Pacquiao and that’s sketchy enough to check what was in his water.

But to offer Trowbridge’s card, to call it 116-112 for Pacquiao and declare him the winner of eight of the 12 rounds, is beyond laughable.

There is a reason Freddie Roach really wanted to part of a III with Marquez, a reason Pacquiao’s trainer thought it a dangerous option. We saw why here.

Marquez is like the NFL or NBA team that just has another’s number, that owns the perfect gameplan to beat a specific opponent, that possesses the tonic so many others never discovered when losing to Pacquiao.

“It was a very close fight,” said Roach, which for him might as well be saying his guy lost. “I kept asking Manny to move to his right more and he didn’t do it.”

Maybe he should have.

It might have helped him avoid being hit in the face so much.

I’m a big Pacquiao fan. Love to watch him fight. Want more than anything to see him engage Floyd Mayweather Jr. one day.

But this wasn’t any 116-112 night for him, and by the way Mayweather easily out-pointed Marquez in September of 2009, the idea that Pacquiao would be in all sorts of trouble if the fight everyone wants to see comes off makes a lot more sense now.

Somewhere today, Mayweather Jr. is laughing and he isn’t wrong to do so.

I stopped taking Compubox statistics seriously long ago. They’re about as legitimate as Glenn Trowbridge. The fact those numbers had Pacquiao throwing 578 punches to 436 means little.

He never showed the quickness that made him such a huge favorite, waiting far too long to attack.

This also wasn’t the same kind of big that Marquez showed against Mayweather. Big a few years ago meant slow and sluggish. Big on Saturday night meant conditioned and strong.

Marquez never stopped coming at Pacquiao, probably because he was fairly certain one or two of the judges were, well, out of their minds.

“I am bound and determined to find a winner once and for all,” said Top Rank promoter Bob Arum. “If I can get both sides to agree, we could do it again in May of 2012.”

That’s when Mayweather’s camp has already said their unbeaten champion will fight again, but it won’t be against Pacquiao.

Not before this and certainly not now.

I really believe this is why the so many people have switched to watching the Ultimate Fighting Championship over boxing. Not for the action. I could watch Pacquiao-Marquez three more times and not tire of it. They come to fight. They have never disappointed when opposing one another.

The disappointing part is a card like 116-112 for a guy who deserved a draw at best and probably not that, and a card of 115-113 for the same guy.

“It was clear I won the fight,” Pacquiao said.

The only clear thing was that two of three judges didn’t watch it.

Pass interference. Calls at the plate.

Boxing judges.

Comical.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday on “Monsters of the Midday,” Fox Sports Radio 920 AM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.