It’s Groundhog Day in the boxing world. Another world title fight, another controversial scorecard.
It has become the norm. Unfortunately. It harms the credibility and notoriety of the noble art.
Saturday, what happened in Bournemouth in England, is appalling. In a WBO world welterweight champion bout between Lawrence Okolie and Chris Billam-Smith, judge Benjamin Rodriguez handed the scorecard 112-112. Everyone was amazed.
A draw despite three falls to Okolie’s carpet. Not to mention that the latter received deductions of two points for his repetitive clashes. In theory, the two athletes should have been a minimum of eight points apart on the judges’ cards. Diana Drew Milani (116-107) and Bob Williams (115-108) saw the good fight.
How did Rodriguez arrive at this score? What did he base his judgment on? It’s incredible.
During the fights I cover, I make it a point to “score” the fights to put myself in the shoes of the judges. In some rounds, it’s not easy to know who to give the advantage. Sometimes it comes down to one or two punches. It’s not scientific, but it gives me an idea of how the fight looks.
Judging a fight is an art. Every action can be decisive. Judges have a huge responsibility and they can cost promoters and boxers millions with a laughable decision like Rodriguez’s.
Lack of experience ?
Rodriguez didn’t have the experience to get that assignment. This was his second world title fight in just…44 fights. According to a judge who contacted me, a judge can have his first title fight after 150 fights. It can go to 200 and even 300 combat experience.
Rodriguez him? He got his first major bout to judge at his 33rd assignment. It’s fast. Very fast. May be too much.
I searched Rodriguez. He is the son of Genaro Rodriguez, one of the vice presidents of the WBO board of directors. A strange coincidence. Did the father place a good word in favor of son when choosing the judges of the fight between Billam-Smith and Okolie? It is not impossible.
Rodriguez is not unique to the WBO. There are other similar cases that rot this sanctioning body. One may wonder whether the selection of judges is made according to the quality of the candidates or by the latter’s network of contacts.
Strange points
The Rodriguez case is not an isolated case. In recent years, questionable scores in major fights have been numerous.
Last week, Dave Moretti was criticized for his 116-112 in the clash between Vasily Lomachenko and Devin Haney. The fight was much tighter than this map.
And we won’t talk about Adalaide Byrd who had returned a score of 118-110 in favor of Canelo Alvarez in an ultra tight first duel against Gennady Golovkin.
Every time a judge gives a ridiculous score, boxing loses some of its credibility with fans. Millions go up in smoke. It takes a serious push before it’s not too late.