Can we please stop crying over the draw at this Saturday’s best boxing fight of the year?
From every corner of the globe there has been an opinion on the controversial decision by three judges who scored the bout so differently that an even draw was produced. From memes to actual cartoons, the social media stratosphere is aflutter over the call. And to be honest, “issa” annoying.
Angry TEDDY ATLAS reacts to “DRAW” decision in CANELO vs GGG:”Corruption in boxing”
Pre&Post Fight Boxing** – Subscribe to our channel for more! Angry TEDDY ATLAS reacts to “DRAW” decision in CANELO vs GGG:”Corruption in boxing” Atlas says there’s ‘corruption in boxing’ after draw.Teddy Atlas reacts to the Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin fight being ruled a draw, saying to follow the money.
Teddy Atlas’ rant on ESPN’s post-fight coverage directed at Stephen A. Smith is now legendary, as he set off the speculation that boxing is tainted by horrific officiating and administrators. To be clear, he didn’t name anyone, but did reference that his concern was for the stars of the sport getting robbed by bad judging.
Insert Manny Pacquiao vs. Jeff Horn and either Canelo Alvarez or GGG, depending on how you saw the fight. The truth is that boxing does have it huge shortcomings. It is a notoriously corrupt business with no singular sanctioning body, multiple belts and enough confusion that the laymen only have time to pay attention to those at the very top.
Sans one main official, like the NFL’s Commissioner position, you have fiefdoms split across the world with shadowy sanctioning body Presidents. In addition, you have promoters with competing self-interests, so it is almost impossible to even get a fight like Canelo vs. GGG on the books.
Then let’s get to the judges and referees, whose crucial decisions as to the outcome of fights can be beyond questionable at times.
First Take reacts to Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin fight draw | First Take | ESPN
The First Take crew including Kyrie Irving react to the Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin fight draw.
In this case, judge Adalaide Byrd, who gave Canelo the widest margin for victory with a score of 118-110, has been vilified by the public.
Personally, I do feel that the score was egregious as the fight was razor close. The woman has been called everything from a scumbag to Oscar de la Hoya’s personal judge. But if you look closer for the corruption, you will see that she has only worked two Canelo Alvarez fights.
When he fought Amir Khan, she actually had Amir Khan up 48-47 before the vicious overhand right took Khan’s soul in the 6th round. The other judges had Canelo winning the fight up until the KO.
If you want to start a conspiracy theory, your best bet would have been judge Dave Moretti, who has worked six Canelo bouts. He was the lone judge that saw GGG as the winner with a score of 115-113 but did have the largest margin of victory when Alvarez fought Miguel Cotto in 2015 with a score of 119-109.
Moretti also had Canelo beating Erislandy Lara 115-113, which gave him the split decision victory back in 2014. Still his GGG score coupled with his Mayweather 116-112 split decision victory over Alvarez make him hard to indict. It was judge C.J. Ross, who issued the ridiculous 114-114 score that made the Mayweather vs. Alvarez boxing clinic decision a joke.
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That 2013 decision was subsequently the last boxing match she officiated.
So please stop it with the conspiracy talk. Boxing is flawed like any sport. Just like people thought referee Robert Byrd stopped Mayweather vs. McGregor too soon, even with the Irishman’s hands down as he was leaning to the side like a sack of potatoes, boxing fans will never be happy. Although I wish these competitors had the solace of a win on either side, the reality is that it was a close fight.
Boxing should be judged by four things:
Ring Generalship, Defense, Effective Aggressiveness and Clean Hard Punching. If you understand that these are the criteria of boxing, then it is clear to see that based on how you personally score the match, each competitor had their strengths.
Where Canelo was the more effective in ring generalship, aggressive defense and punching, GGG was a technical wizard with the effective jab and aggressive inside punching.
Either way, you can’t be mad at the final judge Don Trella’s score of 114-114. It was razor thin and I understand that you have to give each guy credit for their respective strategy. I’m still tight at Trella for giving Gollovkin a score of 115-112 against Danny Jacobs, but you don’t see me running around putting dirt all over his name.
So get over yourselves already and be happy that there is an automatic rematch clause so you can expect these two to do it again on Cinco de Mayo.
And that is a win for everybody.
