LAS VEGAS – The scoring controversies caused by multiple Canelo Alvarez’s fights in the self-proclaimed “Fight Capital of the World” are well documented.
CJ Ross scored his obvious loss to Floyd Mayweather a draw, 114-114, in September 2013 at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Levi Martinez scored Alvarez a 117-111 winner over Erislandy Lara in a 12-round split decision that seemingly could’ve gone either way in July 2014, also at MGM Grand Garden Arena. And, most infamous, Adalaide Byrd scored 10 rounds for the Mexican superstar, 118-110, in his first fight against Gennadiy Golovkin, which resulted in a split draw in September 2017 at T-Mobile Arena.
Dmitry Bivol can’t concern himself with whether the official scores will accurately reflect what occurs during the unbeaten WBA light heavyweight champion’s 12-round, 175-pound title fight versus Alvarez on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena. His manager, however, expressed his thoughts about Alvarez’s perceived advantage among judges in fights that take place in Las Vegas, where the 31-year-old pound-for-pound king has been boxing’s biggest star since Mayweather’s retirement.
“At the end of the day, you know, with everything that’s happened overall in boxing history, our goal is just to come in and try to win the fight and do the best we can,” Vadim Kornilov told a small group of reporters at MGM Grand. “And, at the end of the day, the panel [of judges] is actually a top-level panel and all the judges are very, pretty much respectable, you know? And judges make mistakes sometimes in certain fights. But at the end of the day, if you win the fight a hundred percent, we’re morally and ethically clear because we did what we were supposed to do. And to them, whatever they do, they’re gonna have to live with that the rest of their lives.
“I mean, at the end of the day, the promoters might like them doing the right thing in the fight or the fans might like it. But morally and ethically, you can’t get away from yourself. You know, the judges know better than most who won the fight. You know, the mistakes are there, but at the end of the day, deep down in their heart, they know who won the fight. And if they pick the wrong guy, that’s gonna be with them the rest of their lives – and maybe even past [then], in their next lives. So, that’s what’s important to remember, you know? But we’re gonna be clear of it because if we did what we’re supposed to do. We’re clear in front of the fans and in front of ourselves.”
The Nevada State Athletic Commission has assigned an experienced panel of judges who’ve worked countless high-profile fights – Nevada’s Tim Cheatham, Nevada’s Dave Moretti and New Jersey’s Steve Weisfeld – to score Alvarez-Bivol, a DAZN pay-per-view main event ($59.99 for subscribers; $79.99 for non-subscribers).
Cheatham has worked only one Alvarez fight, and it took place outside of Nevada. He had the four-division champion ahead of England’s Billy Joe Saunders, 77-75, when Saunders suffered a fractured orbital bone around his right eye and couldn’t continue after the eighth round in their WBA/WBC/WBO super middleweight championship match last May 8 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Moretti has judged seven of Alvarez’s past 10 fights and 11 of Alvarez’s bouts overall, all but one in Nevada. Most notably, Moretti had Alvarez ahead of Russia’s Sergey Kovalev, 96-94, when Alvarez knocked out the former WBO light heavyweight champ in the 11th round of their November 2019 fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Moretti also scored Alvarez a 115-113 winner over Daniel Jacobs in May 2019 at T-Mobile Arena.
This is the fifth Alvarez fight to which Weisfeld has been assigned in the past 3½ years.
Weisfeld scored Alvarez’s 12-round, majority-decision win against Golovkin in their rematch 115-113 for Alvarez in September 2018 at T-Mobile Arena. He also credited Alvarez with a 115-113 win against Jacobs in their 12-round middleweight title fight.
Kornilov disagreed when it was suggested by one reporter that Russia’s Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs) could eliminate any potential controversy by becoming the first fighter to knock out Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KOs). That’s particularly noteworthy because each of the 31-year-old Bivol’s past six fights have gone the 12-round distance and Alvarez’s iron chin has been one of his best attributes throughout his celebrated career.
“Like Dmitry always says, boxing is not about knockouts,” Kornilov said. “It’s about boxing. You know what I mean? At the end of the day, I mean, if the knockout comes, like he always says, it’s gonna come and, you know, he’s gonna get the knockout. But boxing is not all about knockouts. You know what I mean? If you don’t get a knockout, you can still win the fight, right?”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
