We’ve seen hype consume fights before, and with nearly two years of hype building up to Canelo-Golovkin, a disappointing outing, as improbable as it was, wasn’t at all out of the realm of possibility. Still, up until the first bell, most fans expected fireworks, but instead, they enjoyed a high-octane chess match. Instead of Michael Bay, they got Guillermo del Toro. It was 12 rounds of brilliance. A back and forth fight that was besmirched by a 118-110 scorecard from Adalaide Byrd. The fight was absolutely, one hundred percent a close fight, and definitely worthy of a draw, but 118-110? No.
Now the only black eye produced from 36 minutes of fighting the one the Nevada State Athletic Commission is nursing with utter shame. Take a look at the scorecard in its admittedly confusing and uneven glory:
Now, due to Oscar de la Hoya exercising Canelo’s rematch clasue, we’re going to run it back. But, it’s mostly due to an ugly judging decision. Bob Bennett, the executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, addressed Byrd’s score:
“Adalaide, in my estimation, is an outstanding judge. She’s done over 115 title fights and/or elimination bouts. She does a great deal of our training. Takes a lot of our judges under her wing. I think being a judge is a very challenging position. Unfortunately, Adalaide was a little wide. I’m not making any excuses. I think she’s an outstanding judge, and in any business, sometimes you have a bad day. She saw the fight differently. It happens.”
Byrd has a handful of poor decisions over her judging career, in both MMA and boxing. This is by far the most high-profile fight she’s ever had a questionable score on however, and it’ll be hard to live down. But, hey — the fans get another two (or three!) fights out of it, so it’s a win-win, despite being a draw.
