2012 is fast becoming the year when Filipino champions just can’t seem to get a fair shake when it comes to judging in title fights. And with the latest victim being none other than 8-division world champion, and boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao himself, it seems as if nobody is safe from the wrath of incompetent boxing judges.
I don’t mean to single out the WBO (World Boxing Organization) headed by chief executive Francisco Valcarcel, who presented Pacquiao with a ring during fight week to honor the Filipino boxing Icon as it’s best fighter of the decade, but a disturbing trend involving Filipino champions simply could not escape my attention.
Donaire-Vazquez
Back in February, Nonito Donaire, Jr. fought for the vacant WBO super bantamweight strap against former holder Wilfredo Vazquez, Jr. It was a one-sided affair wherein Donaire dropped Vazquez once in the ninth round, as the Puerto Rican fought the most cautious fight of his career, covering and backing up at the first sign of a Donaire assault.
The fight went the distance, but was miraculously adjudged a split decision win for Donaire after Texas-based judge Dr. Ruben Garcia scored the fight 115-113 in favor of the inefficient Vazquez. Fortunately for Donaire, the other two judges saw the same fight the rest of us did, and scored the bout 117-110 for Donaire, but the question lingers, how on earth did Garcia come up with a 115-113 score?
Julaton-Marcos
Back in March, then WBO super bantamweight women?s champion Ana Julaton traveled to Argentina to defend her crown against undefeated hometown girl Yesica Marcos. In a fight where Julaton scored a second round knockdown and finished strong winning at least 3 of the last four rounds, the three judges ringside unanimously gave Marcos the lopsided win 98-92 twice, and 99-91. Incidentally, the Julaton camp complained that a judge from the USA was replaced in the eleventh hour without due notice.
Though I scored the fight for Marcos by a point, it boggles my mind how the judges came up with the scores that they did. Upon closer review, it was clear that Marcos was fading toward the end of the fight, and couldn’t have possibly won majority of the last 4 rounds in all of the judges? cards, which she actually did.
Pacquiao-Bradley
This past weekend, the world of boxing, and everyone else who cared to watch, was in shock after Timothy Bradley was given a split decision win over Manny Pacquiao, in a fight Pacquiao was clearly dominating. Pacquiao landed more punches at a more accurate rate, and landed harder, cleaner, on top of controlling most of the fight with his aggression.
There wasn’t a member of the boxing media at the MGM that night that didn’t live in the Coachella Valley, Riverside or Palm Springs area, who thought Pacquiao clearly won the fight. The decision sparked outrage in the media and the social networks, as many lashed out and declared the death of the sport of boxing.
Sanctioning bodies
Now, sanctioning bodies are paid a handsome amount in fees for these title fights, so that they can oversee and ensure fair play. They assign judges, referees and officials for their sanctioned fights. All I’m asking is, where is the accountability? When something is this obvious and blatantly wrong, why won’t these sanctioning bodies do their jobs and step in to fix things? Isn’t that what they are being paid for?
Top Rank chief exec Bob Arum pointed out during the post-fight press conference how there were no personnel from the sanctioning body who was eager to come up on stage to explain the fiasco.
Well, it’s never too late.
I can’t see why the WBO can’t overrule the decision on this fight and turn it to a “no contest”, but the bigger issue at hand is the incompetence of some of the judges they have assigned for their title fights. In the words of Arum himself: “These people do not know how to judge a fight.”
In less than a month, Donaire will have a title unification bout against IBF champ Jeffrey Mathebula in LA. Will we see more bogus scorecards and continue to embarrass the sport of boxing? Let’s hope not.
Foot note: Another controversial fight decision this year was when Brandon Rios got the split decision nod over Richard Abril for the WBA lightweight belt last April. Rios, who came overweight for the fight, was outclassed by Abril in the eyes of many. I personally scored the fight 115-113 for Abril.
Amidst the outrage, two days after the fight, the WBA officially announced that Abril would be allowed to keep his Interim lightweight title, despite being adjudged the controversial split-decision loss. Coincidentally, Jerry Roth, the lone judge who scored a Pacquiao win against Bradley, was the center of controversy for this fight with his 116-112 card favoring Rios.
