In the span of a few weeks the boxing world was witness to some extremely questionable scorecards in the state of Texas.
On February 4th, Fil-Am star Nonito Donaire rose up to 122 pounds and engaged in a wild scrap with former champion Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Donaire would drop the Puerto Rican in the ninth round and appeared to do enough to win at least nine of the completed twelve rounds.
And while two 117-110 cards favoring the ?Filipino Flash? were fair enough, judge Ruben Garcia issued a 115-112 tally in favor of Vazquez that left people scratching their head.
Two weeks later and Madrid, Spain’s Gabriel Campillo found himself in a hole early, as he was dropped twice in the first round by onrushing IBF light heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi.
But Campillo would rise and put forth a virtuoso type of performance as he appeared to control at least eight to nine of the remaining eleven rounds in a masterful performance that saw him outbox Cloud from the outside and pick him apart in closed quarters.
Then the scorecards came.
Campillo was deemed the victor by a 115-111 margin by judge Dennis Nelson but saw scores of 116-110 and 114-112 go against him in a shocking result. A heartbroken Campillo took in the bitter injustice as best he could and boxing once again showed how ugly it can be.
This coming weekend, WBA junior welterweight champion Marcos Maidana will be rising in weight meet up with former champion Devon Alexander, who is also making the move to the welterweight division.
The two prizefighters square off inside of the Scottrade Center on Saturday night in an HBO-televised duel that just so happens to be taking place in Alexander?s hometown of St. Louis, Missouri.
On June 25th of last year, Maidana?s countryman from Argentina, Lucas Matthysse, went ten rounds with Alexander in St. Louis, dropping the southpaw in the fourth round and appearing, in the eyes of many, to do enough to pull out the decision. Alexander would prevail by a split-decision and Matthysse was left crying foul.
Maidana is now the one traveling into his opponent?s backyard, and given the extra weariness that has come from the recent mishaps in Texas, one would wonder just how confident he truly is on getting a fair shake if the bout goes the scheduled ten-round distance.
Speaking through his advisor Sebastian Contursi, Maidana showed his typical steely reserve while dismissing any worries.
?My team has done everything in their power in order to get fair officiating,? stated Maidana. ?But there will be only Devon and me and the ring and I’ll do my best in order to avoid the fight going the distance. So I am not afraid.?
There was a bit of a rift between the two camps recently when Maidana?s side claimed they had been hearing rumors of Alexander using performance-enhancing drugs and made a request to Tim Lueckenhoff, the executive director of Missouri Office of Athletics, to enforce strict drug testing heading into the fight.
Alexander?s side took great exception to the accusations yet Maidana himself claims to have been in the dark on much of the incident.
?I don’t even know what happened,? Maidana would explain.
But come Saturday night, the time for posturing will be over, as Maidana (31-2, 28 knockouts) finds himself inside of the boxing ring, the place he seems to know best.
And while the fight with Alexander figures to be an uphill battle, Maidana sees it only fitting to head into the contest with the same mentality he has always had.
?I always fight the same way. Always looking for the [knockout] and this time around won’t be any different.?
