By Rick Reeno
Promoter Gary Shaw needed confirmation of the Paul Williams-Sergio Martinez scorecards - because he couldn't believe it when ring announcer Jimmy Lennon read off a score of 119-110 by Pierre Benoist in favor of Williams. The other two judges at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, Julie Lederman [114-114] and Lynne Carter [115-113 Williams], saw the fight in the same light as most people.
A week ago, Shaw had to suffer through a similiar situation when his fighter, lightweight Ali Funeka, appeared to dominate a twelve round contest with Joan Guzman on the Bute-Andrade undercard in Quebec. Just about everyone was stunned when two Canadian judges scored the fight a draw.
Shaw has no issue with Williams winning the fight. He does have an issue with a judge who gave Williams eleven out of twelve rounds in a very close fight that could have easily went the other way.
"While I do think Paul Williams won the fight by two rounds, we have to put a stop to these judges who can't judge or have their own agenda. There is absolutely no way that Martinez only won one round. We have to develop in boxing, a mechanism for judges that have problems. It's unfair to the fighters, and just as important, unfair to the boxing fans," Shaw told BoxingScene.com.
"I implore all of the commissions, sanctioning bodies and promoters to immediately hold a judging symposium so we can stop cheating the fans. When Julie Lederman has it 114-114 and this other guy has it 119-110, there is something seriously wrong."
