Mayweather vs. Pacquiao: Breaking Down the Judges' Decisions
Throughout his superfight with Manny Pacquiao on Saturday night, Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s father, Floyd Sr., relentlessly pushed his son in the corner between rounds. To the eyes of most people watching, Mayweather was clearly winning. But a longtime veteran of the fight game like the elder Mayweather knew that, in boxing, it's best to never take anything for granted with the judges.
Boxing judges tend to favor aggression in boxing, sometimes even when it isn't especially effective. Beyond that, an enthusiastic crowd response can influence a judge to score punches that didn't actually land.
Pacquiao clearly had a majority of the crowd on his side in this fight, and they roared approval with every flurry that Pac-Man threw, effective or not. So you can hardly blame Floyd Sr. for feeling tense all night long.
Ultimately, the three judges got it mostly correct in this case. Judge Dave Moretti was probably the most accurate, giving Mayweather 10 of 12 rounds for a score of 118-110. Judges Glenn Feldman and Burt Clements were in agreement that Mayweather carried the night eight rounds to four, or 116-112.
Moretti, Feldman and Clements are three highly experienced judges. They've all worked major, world title fights.
Moretti had Mayweather winning both of his fights last year against Marcos Maidana, both by much closer scores than this one against Pacquiao. He scored Mayweather-Maidana I 116-112 for Mayweather and the second fight 115-113.
Clements scored the first Mayweather-Maidana fight at 117-111 for Mayweather. He was also one of only three judges that I'd say got Timothy Bradley's controversial draw with Diego Chaves correct last year, scoring it for Bradley.
Feldman did a very good job scoring very close and high-profile fights last month. In Andy Lee's draw with Peter Quillin, he scored the fight 113-113. In Lucas Matthysse's majority decision victory over Ruslan Provodnikov, he scored 115-113 for the winner.
Anything but a decisive unanimous decision for Mayweather would have marred what was the biggest boxing night in a generation. It's a relief that working in an emotional, high-energy environment, all three judges managed to get this one right.
