I?ve been scoring fights for 45 years. It was so long ago that I began that I can remember learning the old and honored New York State system in which you scored the rounds.
It may be hard for younger people to accept but Madison Square Garden ring announcer Johnny Addie would read the verdicts like this: ?Judge Artie Aidala scores it 8-7 for Emile Griffith; judge Joe Blow scores it 7-5-3, Nino Benvenuti. And judge I.B, Crooked scores it 9-6 for the winner by split decision and still welterweight champion of the world
(dramatic pause)?Emile Griffith.?
I have to admit, having just scored (with the sound off) the May 8, 2004, featherweight title unification (WBA and IBF) bout between Manny Pacquaio and Juan Manuel Marquez, that the three knockdowns the Mexican suffered in round one made the scoring of the entire bout crazy. That plus the fact that you had the aggressive Pinoy southpaw attacking and the smoother Marquez countering, potshotting?so it made for some extremely close and difficult to call rounds.
So fast foreward to 2008 and we?re on the eve of the rematch. I?m sure you can?t go on living without knowing how I scored it so here goes.
I gave the fight to Pacman, either by 113-111 or by a razor-thin 113-112 margin depending on whether MP should?ve been favored 10-6 or 10-7 for his knockdowns of Juan Ma in the opening round.
But, and permit to harken back to the old New York system for a minute, if this fight had taken place in the Garden, circa let?s say 1968, I would?ve had Marquez the winner on a rounds basis, 7-5. If memory serves, all the three knockdowns would?ve accomplished then was to insure that the first round was awarded to Manny.
Note the official scores in Pac-Juan Ma I were: Guy Jutras, 115-110, Marquez; John Stewart, 115-110, MP, and Burt Clements a 113-113 score which made it a majority draw and sent both Manny and Juan back home with the title belts they walked in with.
Interestingly, Clements only gave Pacman two of the final six rounds and, like his 10-7 tally for the first round, he was widely criticized for that also. I don?t think he was far off as I gave Manny only rounds eight, nine and 10 over the final six rounds.
By contrast, Canadian Jutras saw Marquez winning five of the last six frames.Stewart, the veteran judge out of New Jersey, had Pacquiao taking five of the final six.
Again, the three knockdowns skewed everything as Stewart and Jutras gave Megamanny the round 10-6 while Clements only gave him a three point edge.
It?s understandable when Manny said he hopes judges who are fair and experienced and who possess ?clear vision? handle this rematch correctly. But, without a three knockdown in one round scenario, I think it is far less likely there will be abnormal scoring.
Here?s my round by round and brief reasons why:
Round 1: Funny thing about the three knockdowns is that Marquez is never really on Queer Street and ref Joe Cortez never seems to think about halting it.
I GAVE THIS ROUND TO MP, 10-6.
Round 2: Manny continued to force the action, bloodies JMM?s nose. Manny was bobbing and weaving and using the right jab effectively.
I GAVE THIS ROUND TO MP. 10-9.
Round 3: Good body shots by JMM. Marquez seems really revived now. Juan becomes a sharpshooter with counterpunches, clearly takes this one.
I GAVE THIS ROUND TO JMM, 10-9.
Round 4: JMM landing left jabs with accuracy. MP complains about low blows. Very close round, hard to call, slightest of edges to the Mexicano.
I GAVE THIS ROUND TO JMM, 10-9.
Round 5: Cortez tells Juan to keep punches up. Marquez takes the round by getting bvusy over final 25 seconds or so. Landed two solid rights to MP?s head.
I GAVE THIS ROUND TO JMM, 10-9.
Round 6: Marquez comes on like old racehorse Silky Sullivan who ran dead last and then roared to finish line, bypassing his competitors. MP runs into solid JMM right hand. Juan lands some uppercuts, have MP retreating.
I GAVE THIS ROUND TO JMM, 10-9.
Round 7: JMM is effetice aggressor and Manny is often off balance and wild. Juan lands some jabs, MP rallies towards end of round but not enough.
I GAVE THIS ROUND TO JMM, 10-9.
Round 8: I have JMM winning five rounds in succession, can he roll on? Very close round, hard to call but, near the end, I see MP nipping it barely.
I GAVE THIS ROUND TO MP, 10-9.
Round 9: Another challenging round to score properly. MP comes on over final 30 seconds or so and I see him edging this one also.
I GAVE THIS ROUND TO MP, 10-9.
Round 10: Corner works on cut over MP?s right eye. Now Juan Ma is missing a lot of punches, just not finding target. Blood on JMM?s face. Close but clearly a Manny round.
I GAVE THIS ROUND TO MP. 10-9.
Round 11: Closest round and hardest to score so far but I gave it to JMM.
I GAVE THIS ROUND TO JMM, 10-9.
Round 12: Unlike real judges who don?t have this luxury, I flip-flopped on this one. I first scored it for MP for his aggression but then asked myself how effective it was. So I switched my marking for MP over to JMM. I guess I was trying to counter my normal Manny hugging?
I GAVE THIS ROUND TO JMM, 10-9.
BOTTOM LINE, MICHAEL MARLEY HAS IT 113-111, PACQUIAO.
