WASHINGTON ? Whenever the scoring of a championship boxing match is the main topic of conversation after a fight, it can?t be good for the sport. It?s happened too often in the last several years to consider it an anomaly.
Judges? scoring was again under tremendous scrutiny Saturday night after WBC super middleweight champion Badou Jack and former champion Lucian Bute fought to a majority draw before 4,135 at the DC Armory and a Showtime national TV audience.
Jack 20-1-2, 12 KOs, retained his belt but was furious and more than disappointed after two of the judges, Omar Mintun and Glen Crocker, scored it 114-114. The third, Stephan Rados, had it easily for Jack 117-111. USA TODAY/Boxing Junkie scored it 115-113 for Jack.
Jack, 32, who landed 99 more punches than his opponent, had plenty to say after the decision was announced. So did his promoter, Floyd Mayweather Jr.
?Bull?-. It is what it is. Ask Bute, he knows what time it is,? a disappointed Jack said. ?His punches weren?t hurting me. I feel I won the fight. Maybe I lost the last round. He?s a great guy and a great champion, but I know I won the fight. It?s not Bute?s fault, it?s the judges. People saw I won the fight.?
Mayweather, who was victimized by scoring during his title fight against Canelo Alvarez in 2013 when one judge scored a fight that was not close a draw. In reality, Mayweather completely dominated Alvarez in that fight and won a majority decision.
?We want to be treated fair,? said the recently retired, undefeated two-division champ, who sat ringside to watch his fighter. ?We need to get some new judges because this is not right for the sport of boxing.?
Despite the majority draw, Jack retains his WBC super middleweight title and said he will fight IBF super middleweight champion James ?Chunky? DeGale next, most likely in the fall and in the United Kingdom or Las Vegas.
DeGale won a unanimous decision against Rogelio Medina in the co-feature to retain his IBF title. He watched the Jack-Bute matchup and said he thought Jack won.
?It was a close fight, but Jack won it,? the British champion said. ?Let?s do it. Let?s unify the decision and see who the best is.?
Judging aside, it was a night to remember for Bute, the Romanian from Montreal. At 36, the former 168-pound champ might have lost a step or two, and some power on his punches. But Bute still has ring skills.
He also has an abundance of heart, which he needed in the 11th and 12th rounds as he came on strong and won both on two of the judges? scorecards. Jack even admitted that he allowed Bute to get back in the fight in the late rounds.
?I may have given away a couple of rounds, maybe the last one or two rounds or so but I won the fight clearly,? Jack said. ?Right now I?m just going to relax, go home and see my beautiful daughter (born a few weeks ago), take some time off and be back in the fall with DeGale.?
