All time bad decisions, how does Diaz- Malignaggi rank?

BY: Rota Em

When fighters step into the ring, they are assuming that they will receive a fair fight. There are judges, referees, medical personnel, sanctioning bodies, and commissions set in place to make sure anything that can be seen before-hand is addressed so nothing should go wrong. 

But what about the decisions from the panel of judges? Is there no check and balance for the almighty deciding body?

When a judge, or judges, make the wrong call is there anything that can be done to rectify it?

I can understand the scrutiny that comes with the ability to attest fight decisions but sometimes it is more than warranted. At the very least, the specific situations that are worthy of a second look should receive just that.

Normally, in the classroom, when we add up an equation incorrectly the teacher has the ability and opportunity to correct us. But what about when a judge adds points incorrectly—why can’t anything be done about it even if it IS after the fact? Fights have been deemed ‘no contests’ when a fighter fails a post-fight drug test so it IS possible to go the other way. If it means that the original decision has to be changed, wouldn’t it be worth it in the face of fairness?

This past weekend at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, we saw another controversial decision go in favor of a hometown hero. Juan Diaz got the nod on all three judges’ scorecards for the unanimous points victory. For that fight, we are not debating the decision to give the win to Diaz, considering how close the fight was and their difference in styles, but what we are questioning is why the scores were so wide. Many people that caught the fight, either live on HBO broadcast or in person, saw exactly what the judges saw so why would there be such a gap for the hometown favorite? If anything, the close decision should’ve been awarded to the visitor, Paulie Malignaggi but one judge even saw Diaz win with the absurd score of 118-110. Aside from Lennox Lewis pronouncing the Magic Man’s name incorrectly (he referred to Paulie as Maggiano), two of the three judges must’ve been tuning into the wrong fight altogether.

Not only did Malignaggi control the pace of the fight, but he kept Diaz at bay with his jabs and swift footwork. After the fight the Magic Man saved no face in addressing the robbery that had just occurred a few minutes prior. Although he did no favors for himself in the manner of his lash out, he did have a right to confront the unfair and unjust treatment.

I am embarrassed to say that I cannot cover all of the bad and controversial decisions that have occurred throughout the history of the sweet science, but we can briefly list off some from recent memory.

Joel Casamayor- Jose Armando Santa Cruz. The scores were 114-113 for Casamayor (twice) and 114-113 for Santa Cruz even after a 10-8 1st round. Ron McNair, Frank Lombardi, and Tony Paolillo held Santa Cruz’s fate in their hands as they gift-wrapped the win for Casamayor who held and back-peddled throughout the entire fight. They even let him open the present in the ring. Even the 114-113 score in favor of Santa Cruz was silly considering he should’ve been well ahead; I saw Casamayor winning only two rounds.

Ricky Hatton-Luis Collazo 115-112 (twice) 114-113 all for Hatton. With the win he takes Collazo’s belt although I agreed with the many fans ringside and at home who felt that the Brit didn’t do enough to take the championship. After a flash knockdown to a back-peddling Collazo, Hatton did not show that he belonged in the welterweight division. After the fight he vacated and went back home to 10 stone (140 lbs). In his next visit to the welters Hatton was smashed by Mayweather.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?