EDITORIAL - Pacquiao-Marquez parting shot

The Compubox statistics taken during the controversial third fight between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez appear to be living up to what they were expected to do in the first place, which is to settle boxing disputes.

According to the stats, Pacquiao threw 578 punches of which 176 found their mark. On the other hand, Marquez threw only 436 punches, connecting with only 138 of them. In power punches, Pacquiao threw 274 and landed 117. Marquez made only 100 of 254.

So there, the Compubox stats seem to perfectly jibe with the judges scoring, which went 114-114, 115-113, and 116-112, for a majority decision favoring Pacquiao. Still, the judges are only human. As for Compubox, here is how Wikipedia describes it.

Compubox is a computerized scoring system used in boxing matches. It counts every punch thrown by the fighters and those that landed. It aims to provide a clearer picture of bouts that go the distance, as well as a means to check against the scoring done by the judges.

There is, however, one very crucial element in Compubox -- the system calls for two operators, each of whom watches one of the two fighters and keys in his observations into any of four keys for jab connect and jab miss, and for power punch connect and power punch miss.

In other words, Compubox as a computerized system is not exactly fully computerized. It still needs human intervention, which can be crucial in determining the final information to be generated by the computer.

An operator failing to determine whether a punch landed or missed can affect the final stats. So does an operator failing to appreciate whether what he saw was a power punch or not. The system is not failsafe, its stats not enough to quiet the debate.

If there is one indubitable fact in all of this, it is that a decision has been rendered. And whether you agree with the decision or not, it is a decision that awarded Pacquiao the fight. It is a decision that can be disputed but cannot be revoked or changed.

So maybe the best thing for everybody is to move on from this uncomfortable episode and readjust our sporting sights on other things, like finally a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr., or even far deep into the future, like Pacquiao running for president in 2022.