First of all, hats off to Right Field’s Noah Glyn here on blog for his Nostradamus-like prediction that Timothy Bradley would defeat Manny Pacquiao by split decision. That is indeed what happened Saturday night at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The decision, however, to award Bradley the win was beyond disappointing. It was a farce. Pacquiao was not the only loser that night; the sport of boxing also lost, again.

It’s no secret that boxing is not the sport it once was. The heavyweight division has not had a memorable champion since Lennox Lewis and while the middleweights have some popular fighters, the sport has suffered an overall steady decline the past few decades.

The judges giving Bradley the decision was incomprehensible. Pacquiao was far and away the better fighter in just about every round — as the statistics show. Pacquiao landed 253 punches, 94 more than Bradley’s 159. Pacquiao connected on 34 percent of his punches, while Bradley landed only 19 percent.

Pacquiao has been boxing’s biggest star in recent years and his charismatic demeanor has given the struggling sport a much needed boost. He is a wildly popular athlete in both his native Philippines and across the globe.

In boxing’s history, there have always been poor decisions but this one was one of the most devastating, given the timing and the fighter involved. Over the past ten years, boxing has been losing its fan base to mixed martial arts. And this weekend, boxing never looked more unappealing. While there will be an inevitable rematch between Pacquaio and Bradley, that fight is unlikely to undo the damage done to the sport on Saturday night.