Somehow the Judges find a way to eclipse the September fights

Somehow the Judges find a way to eclipse the September fights

As the month of the highly anticipated September boxing schedule comes to a close, the big story isn’t Floyd Mayweather’s wipeout of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Danny Garcia overcoming Lucas Matthysse, Chris Arreola disposing of Seth Mitchell in the first round, or the abrupt postponement of Tyson Fury vs. David Haye. As a matter of fact it has a lot to do with the very controversial and despicable job of a few judges in some of the important fights of the year. 

The first casualty occurred in Glasgow, Scotland, where Ricky Burns defended his WBO Lightweight title against Raymundo Beltran. Many observers scored the contest in favor of Beltran, especially after knocking down Burns who was the home favorite in round 8. I personally scored it 115-112 for Beltran. The decision would end up being ruled a split-decision draw, which is telling that the fight just wasn’t that close to even attempt to give Burns the decision.

The next and most significant judging issue came after what was seen as a landslide victory for Floyd Mayweather by practically everyone after he defeated Canelo Alvarez. Judge, C.J Ross, scored the fight 114-114. Even the casual fans that watch boxing 1-3 times a year called BS, and that’s saying something. C.J Ross later stepped down as a result of the backlash and rightfully so. After this and the Pacquiao/Bradley score she gave last year, you can be sure if she is ever appointed again that it would gain attention from the boxing media.

And last but not least, what happened last night in Carson, California. In what was already a debacle to begin with during the build-up due to the contracted weight of the fight (Originally 162lbs, then made 173lbs to cater to the boy wonder) Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. won a highly controversial unanimous decision over Bryan Vera, a fight that I scored 97-93 for Bryan Vera. The scores were 96-94, an abysmal 98-92, and 97-93 by Judge Marty Denkin, who at this point should take the CJ Ross approach and “step down”. 99% of observers had Vera winning by at least two rounds. 

The fault here is in the commissions. Nevada State Athletic Commission’s Executive Director Keith Kizer actually defended C.J Ross’ decision and decided to not take any disciplinary action.

These politics don’t only exist in boxing though. Just last weekend at a UFC event in Toronto, Jon “Bones” Jones defeated Swede Alexander Gustafsson by unanimous decision for the light heavyweight title in an excellent fight that ended in controversy as many felt Gustafsson should have won. A referee for mixed martial arts, “Big” John McCarthy, expressed his disgust with how Keith Kizer handles his position in the NSAC on The MMA Hour saying:

“The truth is, Keith Kizer is a person that does not know combative sports. He’s never been part of them. He’s never done them. He puts people [in positions] at times that maybe shouldn’t be put. You tell me why C.J. Ross said the Floyd Mayweather fight was a draw. Did you watch it? My god, I had it 11-1. It wasn’t even close. So if you’re doing that, you keep putting those same people back, you don’t care about the fighters. You don’t care about them as athletes; you don’t care about their livelihood. And you know what? You shouldn’t be in that job. And if someone doesn’t like what I said, too bad.”

Politics run the sport in certain states. Last night, while the California State Athletic Commission is at fault here, it has a lot to do with Marty Denkin. Denkin, who isn’t even allowed to work in Nevada (which is telling), is considered the man who unofficially runs boxing in California and has a lot of stroke within the commission.

The timing for horrific judging could have not come at the most inopportune of times. Right now, boxing is at it’s most exciting with all the lined up matches approaching and fights are being viewed by a larger audience, by both dedicated and on the fence fans. But last nights politics is why you often here: “Boxing is dead”, “This is why I don’t watch anymore!” and “This is why MMA is better!” as a result of poor judging they are witnessing.

What the commissions need is a new figurehead to appoint younger judges who would be then trained in classes on how to score and score a few high profile fights off the record to determine if they know what they’re doing and keep them away from promoters or whomever can convince them to skew their viewing of a particular fight. Foreign judges with neutrality can help with this cause as well.

Be it the judges, the commissions, the promoters, or even the 10-point must system. One thing for certain, there is a problem in the sport we all love and unless this changes, we can count on a decline in not only viewers but also respect for the sport overall.

It’s about time to get rid of the proverbial “black eye” of combat sports.

-Alex Aviles

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