You’ve got to be kidding me.

Timothy Bradley got destroyed by Manny Pacquiao on Saturday Night.

Pacquiao out-landed Bradley in 10 of 12 rounds.

“I don’t remember if he hit me with one punch,” Pacquiao said.

Bradley himself commented before the decision, “I tried hard but I couldn’t beat the guy.”

And yet Bradley was given the victory over Pacquiao.

Rest in peace boxing.

With MMA fights growing in popularity and boxing faltering, the sport’s only hope seemed to be a fight between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Any luster that that match would hold has now flown out of the window with this horrid split decision.

Promoter Bob Arum, who handles both fighters, was livid.

“I’ve never been as ashamed of the sport of boxing as I am tonight,” Arum said.

I like boxing as my fighting style of choice and as a sport. I’m not its biggest follower, but I check out premier matches from time to time. Any interest that casual fans like myself have in the sport has now flown out of the window and into the cage of mixed martial arts, I’m sure of it.

Pacquiao stayed humble afterwards, saying “I did my best. I guess my best wasn’t good enough.”

I can’t say I’d have maintained my composure in that situation.

Pacquiao landed 253 punches to 159. Still lost. They’ll have a re-match on Nov. 10, and I’m sure Manny will come out lighting him up.

Bradley is a good boxer. He fought through a bum ankle most of the match and caught a second wind in the sixth round, sticking and moving well after Pacquiao hurt him a bit in the two rounds before. He gets a $5 million payday, and I’m sure his confidence is through the roof.

But where will people’s confidence in boxing go?

Personally, I would still watch a match between Mayweather and Pacquiao. It would still be one of the most purchased pay-per-view fights of all time. But if some young talent doesn’t start to blow us all away, and soon, MMA will stomp out boxing, not for good, but its relevance will be severely damaged.

There’s more action, moves and blood in MMA. It has very different fighting styles and a constant flow of fresh talent. Many argue that MMA fighters are superior to boxers due to their versatility.

Soon though, that reason will be that boxing just isn’t popular anymore.

It was fun while it lasted.

Joshua Bryant can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].