by Cliff Rold

Pernell Whitaker entered the San Antonio Alamadome in 1993 and laid down a masterclass against Julio Cesar Chavez.  He left with a draw.  Paulie Malignaggi complained, openly and loudly, about the judging situation of his first bout with Juan Diaz in Houston, in 2009...before the opening bell.  In a fight many saw Malignaggi winning, Gale Van Hoy had him losing ten rounds.

Texas is a state with a reputation for going big.  Big cars, big ranches, big stadiums. 

Robberies happen everywhere in boxing.  When they happen in Texas, those seem also to tend to go big.  This scorecard tallied 8-4, or 114-112, for Campillo.  That’s about as close as it could be scored.  115-111 was also fair.

That’s because on Saturday night, Spain’s Gabriel Campillo looked like he’d won at least eight of the last eleven rounds.  The only round he clearly lost, the first, saw him on the floor twice.  Judge Joel Elizondo gave him only six, making IBF Light Heavyweight titlist Tavoris Cloud the winner at 114-112.

It was wrong.  It was also rational in comparison to the card delivered by judge Dave Robertson.  He had Cloud winning 116-110.  That’s eight rounds to four for Cloud.  Boxing judging is subjective.  Here’s a subjective take on David Robertson’s ability to judge a fight:

None.

Following their terrible adjudication of Paul Williams-Erislandy Lara last year, judges Donald Givens, Hilton Whitaker, and Al Bennett (two giving Williams the win and one a draw) were suspended by the State of New Jersey.  According to BoxRec, none have returned officially to ringside of a pro fight since. 

If David Robertson can see Tavoris Cloud winning eight rounds on Saturday night, he should also be able to see future fights from the same vantage as Givens, Whitaker, and Bennett.  While disagreeable, there were at least a couple of swing rounds that might save Elizondo from outright deserving a similar fate, but he bears much closer evaluation going forward.   

Showtime’s broadcast made note that both the judges favoring Cloud were inexperienced at ringside for championship contests.

So are the droves of fans and pundits who watched the fight Saturday.  They saw the obvious.  If two people paid to do so cannot, let them do something else.   

The unfortunate part of the judging controversy Campillo-Cloud was that it was a good fight, full of drama and a great performance from a fighter who has emerged as the ultimate hard luck story.  He makes Glen Johnson look only mildly unfortunate in his battles with judges. 

It was a weekend where all the fights were good.  Paul Williams, returning to the victory circle against Nobuhiro Ishida, was entertaining even if it was a scoring whitewash (no problems with the judges there). 

Across the pond in Munich, Vitali Klitschko did something he hasn’t done in his comeback.  He lost rounds.  He also got a gem challenge for all of twelve rounds and fans got the first truly compelling Heavyweight belt fight since Sergiy Lyakhovich-Lamon Brewster in 2006. 

No, it wasn’t sniffing the action of that one, but, hey, Lyakhovich-Brewster might be one of the top 10-20 Heavyweight action fights ever. 

That it was good, hard fought, and heavy hitting was enough.  The final score from these eyes, 8-4 for Klitschko, gave credit to both Klitschko’s stiff right hands and activity and the excellent body work and dogged persistence of challenger Dereck Chisora.  There are others who saw it as wide as 10-2.  Fair enough.  That it was a competition was significant for a class without enough of that at the top recently. 

The lasting impact of the fight could be great.  Chisora is wide open to a ton of criticism.  Slapping Vitali at the weigh-in, spitting water on Wladimir in the corner before the fight, and brawling with David Haye at the post-fight presser is not condonable behavior.

But…

It would be a lie to say Chisora has not almost single handedly breathed some life into the division.  Who wouldn’t now be intrigued by Chisora versus Wladimir (and, while spitting is rude, so is trying to punk your brother’s opponent in the ring before a fight.  Wladimir should have stayed out of it).  What about Chisora-Haye?  Vitali-Haye got some free press as well should it happen down the road.  Having defeated Chisora soundly last year, Tyson Fury is now a compelling contender by proxy. 

Heavyweight has more to talk about this weekend then the same tired bitches and gripes about how bad it is.  In fights with Fury, Robert Helenius (a poorly scored defeat), and now Vitali, Chisora has shown there is a Heavyweight out there willing to bring compelling fights at a high level, win or lose.  He doesn’t lay down.  Vitali showed that he was ready for a real fight and reminded fans of that he can be thrilling when tested, as he was against Lennox Lewis and Corrie Sanders.

That’s a win all around for boxing’s premiere class.  When a good fight ends with more fights that people can genuinely want to see, something has gone right.

Grades

Pre-Fight: Speed – Klitschko B; Chisora B+/Post: B; B
Pre-Fight: Power – Klitschko B+; Chisora B/Post: Same
Pre-Fight: Defense – Klitschko B+; Chisora B/Post: Same
Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Klitschko A; Chisora B+/Post: A; A

Pre-Fight: Speed – Cloud B+; Campillo B+
Pre-Fight: Power – Cloud A-; Campillo B-
Pre-Fight: Defense – Cloud B; Campillo A-
Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Cloud A; Campillo B+

Pre-Fight: Speed – Ishida B+; Williams A/Post: Same
Pre-Fight: Power – Ishida B; Williams B/Post: Same
Pre-Fight: Defense – Ishida B; Williams B-/Post: B-; B-
Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Ishida B; Williams A/Post: B+; A
       
Report Card Picks 2012: 6-1

Ratings Update

Heavyweight: A couple of big moves.  His effort versus Vitali, coupled with what should have been a win over Helenius, moves Chisora up.  Given his undefeated mark and lingering win over Chisora, Fury also gets a bump. Eddie Chambers has been inactive for a year and has no fights signed.  He exits the top ten.

Light Heavyweight: Campillo moves up, and Cloud down, based on what happened in the ring.

Jr. Middleweight: Paul Williams returns to the top ten.  Ishida exits.

Jr. Bantamweight: Juan Carlos Sanchez pulled off a surprise over Rodrigo Guerrero and takes his slot in the ratings.  Guerrero slips but stays, forcing Raul Martinez from the top ten.  Guerrero beat Martinez in his last contest.

The full ratings update is a click away.

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel, the Yahoo Pound for Pound voting panel, and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com