Mayweather vs. Canelo Scorecard: Judge CJ Ross Provides Post-Fight Controversy

Almost every casual observer, boxing aficionado and neutral party that observed Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on Sept. 14 came away impressed by Money’s absolute dominance of the match.

Apparently, boxing judges assigned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission just do not see things the same way as the rest of us.

Judge C.J Ross decided that the one-sided affair—in which Mayweather landed about 100 more punches and barely got hit—was a draw on paper, and she scored it as such.

That is nearly impossible to believe, right? Take a look at the scorecard for proof:

While judge Craig Metcalfe saw a 117-111 battle and judge Dave Moretti scored a 116-112 bout in Mayweather’s favor, Ross somehow envisioned a 114-114 tie that gave the defending champion a majority victory instead of a unanimous one.

It was fortunate the other two judges had some level of sanity and façade of neutrality remaining, otherwise this could have been another Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley-type disaster.

Ross just happened to be sitting ringside for that utter display of incompetence and/or crookedness, as she jobbed Pac-Man by scoring another one-sided fight in favor of the clear-cut loser last year.

Desert Storm would go on to win largely because Ross gave him a 115-113 edge despite the Filipino landing almost 100 more punches, many of them more powerful than Bradley’s.

It was a disgraceful night that put a black eye on the entire sport of boxing, which begs the question: How on Earth was Ross allowed to judge another high-profile contest?

HBO’s Herold Lederman, per Michael Woods via Jim Lampley's "The Fight Game," questioned her credentials prior to the Pacquiao vs. Bradley bout in June of 2012. According to Woods, he referred to her decision as “a crime” after.

While no one is asking for a judge that only scores based on the consensus opinion, Ross is clearly incompetent and incapable of coming up with a decision that in any way matches what everyone saw happen.

This is something that boxing has to fix before it becomes a real problem and impacts the sports’ ability to draw in millions upon millions of viewers for megafights.

If Ross continues to judge, there will only be more corrupt, controversial and downright terrible scorecards that have far too much impact on the result of these marquee bouts.