By Johnny Ortiz
Judge Duane Ford single-handedly put an end to one of the greatest records in boxing history by erroneously conceding the twelfth round to Jermain Taylor, a round that was, without a shadow of a doubt, won large by Bernard Hopkins. Had he scored it correctly, Bernard not only would have been given a draw, he would have retained his title for a record twenty-first time.
Even making matters worse, the other judge with obvious eye problems, Paul Smith, gave the first six rounds to Taylor while the other two judges gave Bernard the fourth round, besides the fourth, Jerry Roth gave also gave Bernard the third and fifth rounds. His score of 116-112 in favor of Bernard is what the majority of the boxing press row had Bernard winning by.
To accentuate the last statement, Robert Morales, a very good boxing writer for the Daily News, called his Monday article: Hopkins’ loss is a boxing travesty, Robert wrote and I quote: "One thing seems evident, when virtually every veteran boxing writer on press row scores Hopkins the winner—many by at least four points—that boxer usually emerges as the winner. Usually, when a fight is close, there is a fairly equal split among reporters as to who won…not this time. What a shame." He also added that according to Compubox statistics, Hopkins managed to avoid 81% of Taylor’s punches. Robert Morales is a hard-core boxing writer; he calls it like he sees it. He scored the fight 117-111 in favor of Hopkins. I had it 116-112.
Having been in boxing since I was nine, first as a fighter and later on as a trainer and a manager, I like to think I know what to look for in a fight; Bernard made Jermain miss a lot of punches. In the final punch stat report, Bernard landed ten more punches 96 to 86. He lost in the jab department 17 to 36, in power punches, a statistic that usually wins it for a fighter; Bernard outlanded Jermain by a huge 28 punches…78 to 50.
Bernard hurt Jermain on more than one occasion, he hurt him in the seventh, tenth, eleventh and twelfth rounds. Had it gone another round, he might have knocked Jermain out. Forget it if it had gone fifteen rounds.
Bernard Hopkins is such a class act, he is not interested in disputing the erroneous decision, he is instead, looking forward to enforcing the rematch clause in order to face Jermain Taylor once again. At the press conference, Bernard said he felt as though he had won. He went on to say: "I baited him in, and I was able to play my strategy and counter him. It was very easy to hit him when he came in." Bernard felt he dominated the fight from the fifth round on. He also said: "I had him hurt twice, and the only thing I didn’t do was knock him out. I think I should have won a unanimous decision."
Jermain has commented on how much he learned in his fight with Bernard, he should be concerned how much the Executioner learned about his weaknesses. Bernard has made career of implementing the corrections he makes in rematches. Bernard now knows what he has to do to take it out of the hands of the judges. He has excelled going in with a fighter he’s been in with before…he is undefeated in rematches. Of course he is, before this latest injustice, Bernard was undefeated in over twelve years. This rematch will be no different. I picked Bernard Hopkins in the first fight, I feel just as confident the second time around. In the rematch…Bernard will again put his greatness on display.
The reason we are subjected to bad decisions in boxing, is the fact that we have certain judges who have never set foot inside a boxing ring, they have no clue as to what they are watching or what they should be looking for. My pleasure in listening to certain commentators have always been the statements made by actual fighters such as: Sean O’Grady, Bobby Czyz, George Foreman, and now Roy Jones, just to name a few who have done it.
I dislike bringing attention to a couple of guys I know and like, but it is time to speak my mind. Saturday night, Larry Merchant asked Roy Jones if wearing yellow gloves allow a fighter to better see the punches coming. Please! As long as Larry has been doing boxing, he has to ask such a question? Which is by the way, No! Roy Jones was quick to clarify the question. During the Tarver-Johnson lightweight title fight, Jim Lampley asked Roy if the reason for Tarver’s great jab was his strength or was it mechanical? Again I ask you, with Jim doing fight commentary for so many years, he has to ask what makes a jab effective?
I remember George Foreman once telling Larry Merchant after he had said something stupid pertaining to something that happened in a previous bout, "Larry, you see boxing, you don’t know boxing."
Another time when Larry was interviewing Julio Gonzalez in the ring directly after his twelve round decision loss to light heavyweight champion Roy Jones, he told Julio that he thought the first six rounds were good, but that he thought the last six rounds resembled a sparring session in which Julio replied, "Hey Larry, I don’t see you in the ring with headgear and gloves!"
The reason I bring this up is because I strongly believe competent, articulate ex-fighters such as Genero Hernandez, Raul Marquez or Jesse James Lieja to name a few, could do an outstanding job, or qualified trainers such as the Emmanuel Stewart’s of boxing. They should be the ones commentating on boxing. When they speak, you can be sure it is an accurate account of what is going on in the ring.
Give me someone who knows what he is talking about and doesn’t feel a need to ask someone like Roy Jones, ridiculous questions. Howard Cossell was a rare exception, he was such a strong personality, it worked, but make no mistake about it, if you didn’t have "Dandy" Dan Meredith or Frank Gifford in the booth, Monday night football would have been disastrous. Remember Dennis Miller? They finally got rid of him. If he didn’t know the intricacies of football, why should it be any different with some of the clowns we have judging fights? Case closed!
It is so imperative that someone who has played the game or fought the fight should be the one who tell the listening audience what is accurately going on. The audience would benefit by their expertise and not have to listen to someone who never played the game or fought the fight. I haven’t always agreed with some fighters who have been commentators, but not very often, I may have had a slight, different opinion, but I have never disrespected theirs. With fighters, you can be assured of a true, valid opinion. The same cannot be said of someone who doesn’t know the complete rudiments of boxing.
Ferdie Pacheco finally rode off into the sunset, its time for outstanding new boxing minds to step up. Mentioning Pacheco, I remember when he showed his boxing ignorance after Gerald McClellan went down for the final time in his fight with Nigel Benn of England, Ferdie started yelling something like, "he’s not getting up, he quit, he’s a quitter!" The insensitive doctor, who rode in on Ali’s coattails without any previous physical boxing experience, did not take the time to realize that maybe; just maybe, Gerald’s fall may have been due to a serious injury. Today, Gerald McClellan is confined to a wheel chair, blind, deaf with extreme brain damage. Someone with any kind of boxing knowledge and compassion would never have made such a brainless assessment. Ferdie Pacheco…good riddance!
That’s it for the commentators. Now the judges!
The time has come to clear the air of these blind mice that have no business deciding the outcome of a hard fought fight. They have no clue what it is like to train vigorously, stand toe to toe, and have to dig down deep to win a fight. Time after time, year after year, we have had to live with their outrageous scorecards. The same people, who I believe should be commentating, could also work as judges. Believe me, decisions could be righted if put in the hands of ex-fighters who excel in knowing their craft. One thing for sure, they could not be any worse than their predecessors.
It stands to reason that anyone who has been in the ring as a fighter or as an experienced trainer would know who wins a round. The day after the fight, for my own edification, I called six ex-fighters and asked who they thought won the fight, especially who had won the last round, all six said they thought Bernard had won the fight, and that he won the twelfth round big.
Of course, there are always exceptions of someone who never made a career of boxing. One who comes to mind is our boxing hall of fame boxing historian, David Martinez. He is in all probability, the most knowledgeable boxing guy I know. As a youngster, he spent a lot of time in boxing rings; he would make an excellent judge or boxing commentator. There are others. I’m sure there are some knowledgeable people with good boxing credentials who never fought, but know boxing as David Martinez does, who would be very capable of handing in a correct scorecard; they should be given a chance. It’s the same ones that constantly get it wrong that should get the boot, they are the same names who cause all the controversy. I am not trying to belittle anyone, but for God’s sake, isn’t it about time we weed out these certain judges who continually screw up and have no clue as to who wins a round, let alone a fight?
Reviewing Saturday night’s scorecards, it was unbelievable how three judges could be in so much disagreement. Duane Ford and Paul Smith had better look into Seeing Eye Dogs, judging from their cards…they are right around the corner from becoming Mr. McGoo’s.
Jerry Roth turned in the right scorecard, but lest we forget, on September 18, 1999, he gave the first three rounds to Felix Trinidad in his fight against Oscar De La Hoya, three rounds that he should have given to Oscar. Regardless, most everyone in boxing knows that Oscar won the fight. Had Roth scored it right, there would not have been any question about the outcome. Mr. Roth did not stop there, like Paul Smith in Saturday night’s fight, he gave the twelfth round in the Trinidad fight to Oscar, a round Oscar himself admits to losing. Still, in boxing reality, you do not win eight rounds as Oscar did, and lose a twelve round fight.
In his second fight with Shane Mosley, I don’t know anyone who thought Oscar lost the fight; he was robbed of the rightful decision. Guess who voted against him 113-115? None other than…Duane Ford. It all goes back a long way, who can forget the awful decision that was called a draw in a fight Lennox Lewis won big time against Evander Holyfield in their first fight?
I could go on and on, I sincerely think it is time fighters who win, get a fair shake, it is a terrible thing to train for months on end, fight a great fight, know you have won, and then come out on the wrong end of the decision.
Some fighters never come back from a bad decision; this is why something has to be done about it. It just isn’t fair to the kids who rely on winning to make it big. It is never the fighter’s fault, Jermain Taylor fought as good as he could, even though I and the majority of the media thought he lost, he was handed the winning decision. Jermain did what he trained for; he did what was asked of him, nothing more. He is not at fault. He has what it takes to be an exceptional middleweight champion, but first he has to prove it to me by really beating Bernard in the rematch. When Bernard does decide to retire, Jermain will be a worthy successor.
When contacted, Executive Director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, Marc Ratner, had this to say: At no time during the fight was he concerned about the different scores, that different judges have their own philosophies when it comes to scoring, and although he and the three judges would look at the fight again and review their scorecards, there would be no changes and the decision made would be upheld."
If there are to be no changes, why watch it with the three blind mice? Just cut to the chase and watch the twelfth round. It’s the only round that would have made a difference. "What happens in Vegas…stays in Vegas! Truer words were never spoken!
This one really got me. Their own philosophies?? What the hell does that mean? Either a fighter wins a round or he doesn’t, what does the judge’s philosophy have to do with it.
Spare me…this is boxing! That’s a first for me, I’ve never quite heard it put that way. Arriving at a decision as to who or who didn’t win a round should be cut and dry, you mark it down and go on to the next round…Philosophies?
In essence, if the main man in Vegas isn’t concerned about the different scores, who do we take our argument to? I guess we will just have to live with whatever they decide, whether we like it or not. To anyone who can make a difference…the ball is now in your court!
All I do know is that if you keep making mistakes on your job, you usually get fired…it’s the American way. I guess Boxing is a separate entity.
In my final analysis, an idiot judge, not Jermain Taylor, beat Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins. Being the great champion Bernard is, he really deserved better. Nevertheless, he is still…my Champion!
UNTIL THE NEXT ROUND…PEACE AND GOD BLESS!
Johnny Ortiz is a member of the World Boxing Hall of Fame Board of Directors and is a former co-owner of the world famous, legendary Main St. Gym