After judges handed the WBO Welterweight Title to the challenger, the new champ vowed to give it back.
Wait, that can’t be right.
It was one of the most controversial boxing decisions in years. Judges awarded a victory to Tim Bradley, a relative unknown, over the legendary Manny Pacquiao. In response, thousands of fans flocked to what appeared to be Bradley’s new Facebook page.
Something was a little off, though.
The Facebook Bradley pledged to “return this belt to its true, rightful owner,” despite the boxer tweeting, “I finally had a chance to watch the fight last night[…]I won the fight!” Tuesday afternoon. Plus, Bradley’s official website links to a different Facebook profile.
Most suspiciously, one of the mysterious account’s four likes is something called “Draxor,” a nearly empty Facebook page that uses the Anonymous “empty suit” logo.
Though it was removed Wednesday morning, the fake Bradley fooled plenty of people. The account gathered 5,000 friends and almost 2,000 subscribers and prompted message board speculation, boxing blog rebuttals, and earnest praise from gullible fans—though it’s more charitable to believe that some of them were in on the joke.
“You have got such incredible heart. You are so honest and so determined, i absolutely love it,” Frank McQuarrie wrote.
“I salute you being a true man with right principles and that makes you a TRUE BOXER!,” Dale Naguit wrote.
Before the fake Bradley account was shut down, Draxor’s owner sent a Facebook message to Buzzfeed with an explanation: “Because some men want to watch the world burn.”
“MUAHAHAHAHAHAH,” Draxor added.
Screengrab via Facebook