The surprise factor in scoring.

[Roman Moreno]

Anytime going into the fight, that you believe is a mismatch. And, the underdog surprisingly does better than you expect. Could that surprise factor affect the way you score a fight?

[T-97]

Yeah, I think so.

If something surpasses your expectations, then you might think it's better than it really is... if that makes sense.

[Sweet Pea 50]

Meh, too old to care about who was "supposed" to win, the right man should get his hand raised in victory. Rocky underdog, or no.

But anything can happen when it goes to the cards.

[IronDanHamza]

Meh, too old to care about who was "supposed" to win, the right man should get his hand raised in victory. Rocky underdog, or no.

But anything can happen when it goes to the cards.

Feel the same way, pretty much.

[Kagami Taiga]

it counts. sometimes its really hard to ignore. i scored the pac/jmm fight even but to me, if anyone should have won its jmm and thats partly due to the surprise factor.

[.:: JSFD26 ::.]

I guess the same could be said when you go into a fight just caring about YOUR fighter and don't have eyes/care for what the other guy is doing.

I think the scenario you mentioned could be applied to a fight where it's real close. But I didn't see anyone saying "Herrera won" cause he did better than people expected and was the underdog. And that fight vs Alvarado was WAYYYY closer than Rios vs Abril. True story.

[.:: JSFD26 ::.]

Im a Pacquiao fan before JMM and I scored that 3rd one for JMM. I don't remember the 2nd cause I was too drunk off my ass but I do recall saying JMM won.

But this isn't the point of the thread sooo...

[LA_2_Vegas]

Anytime going into the fight, that you believe is a mismatch. And, the underdog surprisingly does better than you expect. Could that surprise factor affect the way you score a fight?

It's one the top reasons that boxing has and always will be plagued by "bad decisions."

Humans, in general, are predisposed to root for those we perceive to be underdogs. Our history is full of these types of stories, fables, and archetypes and, to be fair, there is really nothing wrong with doing so. As you said though, there is no doubt that the phenomena of the underdog trickles into how some people score a fight.

This is not to disparage the many knowledgeable boxing fans out there who don't care about fighter A or B...but we are literally hard wired for this underdog thing and it's always going to be one of the reasons why people disagree about certain decisions.

[Roman Moreno]

I guess the same could be said when you go into a fight just caring about YOUR fighter and don't have eyes/care for what the other guy is doing.

I think the scenario you mentioned could be applied to a fight where it's real close. But I didn't see anyone saying "Herrera won" cause he did better than people expected and was the underdog. And that fight vs Alvarado was WAYYYY closer than Rios vs Abril. True story.

It doesn't have to be Rios-Abril.

For example I remember when the first Vitaly-Lewis fight happen. At first thought most people thought Vitaly kicked Lewis ass. But, if you look at that fight closely. Lewis IMO won the last 2 rounds prior to the stoppage. But, the Vitaly doing better than what most expected had people acting like Lewis was done prior to the stoppage.

Like DempseyRoll mentioned. JMM-Pac III. People went into it with mindset that it was such a mismatch. That made many called robbery but maybe the fight was closer than people give it credit for because we were just so surprised on how well JMM did.

Another one I think it is Winky-Vargas. I think now in hindsight most people see Winky as the greater overall better. He had IMO the better career. but, going into the fight Vargas was the favorite. Vargas was suppose to win. And, Winky did better than what most expected IMO. And till' this day you read that Winky pretty much got robbed. I thought the fight could have been a draw and even a win of Vargas. I thought it was close. But, the surprise factor on how well Winky did I think affected the way people judged that fight.

Same thing with Oscar against both Hopkins and Floyd. People believed Oscar was competitive with both just because he did better than what most expected. Same thing with Molina against Oscar, where I remember people thinking that was a close fight cuz' Molina did better than expected.

Khan-Peterson, I think Khan won that fight. Even with the point deduction I thought Khan did enough to win. But, 2 reasons why people weren't upset with the decision the main one was because on how much Khan ***** about that fight. But, also because Peterson being the underdog did better than what most expected. I mean people were looking past this fight and talking a possible Mayweather-Khan match.

And, I can go on and on with examples. Like I said it doesn't have to be Rios-Abril. For the record I had Abril handily beating Rios. I haven't watched it again. I might have to though. But, Eric Raskin from The Ring Magazine made a comment that I could see me being swayed by the surprise factor. He said, "Just watched Rios-Abril. I'll be That Guy: Not a robbery. Close rounds, close fight. I think ppl's scores were swayed by surprise factor." Which had me thinking how much does the surprise factor play a roll on how you judge a fight.

[IronDanHamza]

It doesn't have to be Rios-Abril.

For example I remember when the first Vitaly-Lewis fight happen. At first thought most people thought Vitaly kicked Lewis ass. But, if you look at that fight closely. Lewis IMO won the last 2 rounds prior to the stoppage. But, the Vitaly doing better than what most expected had people acting like Lewis was done prior to the stoppage.

Like DempseyRoll mentioned. JMM-Pac III. People went into it with mindset that it was such a mismatch. That made many called robbery but maybe the fight was closer than people give it credit for because we were just so surprised on how well JMM did.

Another one I think it is Winky-Vargas. I think now in hindsight most people see Winky as the greater overall better. He had IMO the better career. but, going into the fight Vargas was the favorite. Vargas was suppose to win. And, Winky did better than what most expected IMO. And till' this day you read that Winky pretty much got robbed. I thought the fight could have been a draw and even a win of Vargas. I thought it was close. But, the surprise factor on how well Winky did I think affected the way people judged that fight.

Same thing with Oscar against both Hopkins and Floyd. People believed Oscar was competitive with both just because he did better than what most expected. Same thing with Molina against Oscar, where I remember people thinking that was a close fight cuz' Molina did better than expected.

Khan-Peterson, I think Khan won that fight. Even with the point deduction I thought Khan did enough to win. But, 2 reasons why people weren't upset with the decision the main one was because on how much Khan ***** about that fight. But, also because Peterson being the underdog did better than what most expected. I mean people were looking past this fight and talking a possible Mayweather-Khan match.

And, I can go on and on with examples. Like I said it doesn't have to be Rios-Abril. For the record I had Abril handily beating Rios. I haven't watched it again. I might have to though. But, Eric Raskin from The Ring Magazine made a comment that I could see me being swayed by the surprise factor. He said, "Just watched Rios-Abril. I'll be That Guy: Not a robbery. Close rounds, close fight. I think ppl's scores were swayed by surprise factor." Which had me thinking how much does the surprise factor play a roll on how you judge a fight.

It plays a part but it wears off eventually.

For example I was shocked that Marquez was doing so well but it didn't sway my scoring because he was doing so well.

I don't let things like that effect me. I judge fights as if I don't know who's supposed to win.

Abril-Rios definitely doesn't fall under this category.

That was just an out and out, black and white, daylight robbery.