Compubox is just a computer program that counts up inputs by a human operator. There's nothing singularly objective about it. It operates on a punch-by-punch basis instead of a round-by-round basis, but it's just as prone to human fallacy as traditional judging is. The Compubox scoring I saw credited Bradley for two landed jabs in that 5th round. By watching it closely you can see that's clearly wrong -- Bradley's jab lands repeatedly on Pacquiao during the opening two minutes. I haven't watched any of the other rounds that intensely, but I suspect that if I do I would see a similar trend.
Slap wasn't hyperbole aimed to derogate the quality of Pacquiao's punches generally. I only meant that Pacquiao's punches at that specific time (the close of the fifth) were "slap" or "cuffing" punches, specifically that he was hitting Bradley with the sides of his gloves and not his fists; basically waving his arms around instead of following through, putting his weight and power behind the punches.
I just now watched the fight for a second time. This time, I had it 117-111 for Pacquiao, or 9-3 in rounds. Im trying to remember which additional round I gave Pacquiao the first time, but I can't. I definitely hand it to Bradley. He fought with great heart and determination and even decent skill. But he simply was not as good as Pacquiao -- not by a long shot.
I have to tell you, respectfully, that I rewatched the fifth round an additional time (yes, with the sound off) and I am simply amazed at your description of it. The Compubox jab numbers looked very accurate to me. Bradley threw many jabs, but most of them were of the "pawing" or "measuring" variety. I counted two and MAYBE three that actually landed. And by landed, I mean made direct, non-incidental contact with a scoring area of the body. In this case, Pacquiao's face. Quite a few bounced off Pacquiao's gloves, or stopped short of making any contact.
Meanwhile, at the end of the round, far from "cuffing," Pacquiao had Bradley hurt and had Bradley not backpedaled as rapidly as he did, probably could have ended the fight right there. He landed on Bradley cleanly and effectively, which is supposed to be the criterion for scoring a professional boxing match.
As for Compubox versus traditional judging, I'd say Compubox has the advantage. Where each judge is responsible for judging the entire fight, each Compubox operator is responsible for only one fighter, and simply pushes one of four keys every time his fighter throws a punch (power punch connect/miss and jab connect/miss). It's a simpler job.
Duane Ford's dismissiveness toward the Compubox stats is ridiculous. What are the other criterion besides punches was he using? Ring generalship? Effective punching? Does he really believe that Bradley won more rounds on the basis of either of those things? Absurd.
