Pacman tops Marquez in stats

Las Vegas —For a while, it almost sounded as if Bob Arum, after nearly getting mobbed by angry fans after Manny Pacquiao’s victory over Juan Manuel Marquez Saturday (Sunday morning in Manila), was turning CompuBox into straws so he would have something to clutch at desperately.

But as the numbers churned out were made available, it was understandable why the Top Rank chief referenced the technology several times during his post-game press conference.

According to the punch statistics, Pacquiao landed more punches, connecting on 176 out of 578 attempts (30 percent). Marquez had 138 out of 436 (32 percent), his accuracy waning only in the homestretch of the bout at the Garden Arena of MGM Grand.

“Whatever that means, that’s CompuBox,” Arum said.

The veteran promoter was heckled by angry Mexican fans on his way from the arena to the media room also inside the MGM Grand and was stunned at the reaction and spite thrown his way.

“I felt like I was going to get lynched,” Arum said. “It’s as if I had anything to do with the decision.”

Judge Glenn Townbridge saw it 116-112 for Pacquiao. Dave Moretti had it 115-113 for the reigning pound-for-pound king while Robert Hoyle had it 114-114.

Judges tend to favor aggressors in professional fights and tend to give close rounds to the defending champion. And there were lots of either-or rounds Saturday night.

“Not only was the win not definitive, the rounds were not definitive,” Arum said. “It was hard to tell who won.”

Somewhere in his defense of the judges and his rattling off of television journalists who had Pacquiao also winning, Arum mentioned CompuBox again. Everywhere in the punch stats, Pacquiao showed he was the busier fighter.

The Sarangani congressman threw 304 jabs against Marquez’ 182 and connected more, 59-38. In the power punch department, Pacquiao landed more stingers, 117-100. On the average, Pacquiao landed 14 out of 49 attempts. Marquez connected on 11 of 36.

But how reliable is CompuBox? According to Sports Illustrated and Wikipedia, the program was developed by sports researchers Bob Canobbio and Logan Hobson in 1985. The system, whose primary goal is to count punches, uses two keypads fed into a laptop.

Two people operate each keypad, which puts a human element into the system. They tack each fighter, pressing buttons for every jab and power punch missed and connected. While Canobbio, who clarified that CompuBox doesn’t judge fights, said that the fighter “who lands more punches usually wins,” there have been glaring instances when the opposite happens.

Sports Illustrated reported that in Oscar De La Hoya’s loss to Shane Mosley in 2003, CompuBox had the Golden Boy connecting more, 221-127, against Sugar Shane.

While CompuBox gives viewers and readers a more tangible idea of a sport that relies heavily on three ringside judges to decide on matches that go the distance, it isn’t a judging aid. The three judges do not receive a copy of CompuBox stats during the bout. /inquirer