Things just keep getting more and more interesting from the fall out of the Paul Williams Erislandy Lara fight this past weekend.
First as with most questionable calls, fans went to the message boards, chat rooms, YouTube and Twitter to voice their displeasure and outright shock and anger of the call to award the win in favor of Paul Williams. New Jersey State Athletic Control Board (“NJSACB”) judges scored the fight 114-114, 115-114 and 116-114, giving Paul Williams a majority decision. Then the NJSAC suspending all three judges indefinitely for their poor performance.
I was able to be ringside for the fight and I scored the fight 115-113 in favor of Lara, however, I must admit there were a couple early rounds that could have went to Williams depending on what you were looking for in terms of scoring.
My first impression after the fight was no matter the amount of stalking and controlling of the ring Williams displayed throughout the fight, he was getting beat to the punch by Lara, who effectively countered Williams as well as landed the left almost at will the entire fight. However, as effective as Lara was, Williams was the aggressor and kept pressure on Lara the entire fight- He continually initiated the action and was willing to stand and trade with Lara, who displayed his ring, smarts and never allowed Williams to create a rhythm. Williams was still able to throw more than 1000 punches in the fight. Perhaps, for his willingness to fight, he was given the edge in the close rounds. Ring Generalship-Edge Williams, he took the fight to Lara.
In the power category- Lara wins this easily. Lara peppered Williams with flush left hooks the entire night. To Williams’s credit, he kept coming forward and continued to take the punishment Lara threw, if there was something to argue about Lara in the power punch area, it would be that Lara did land the left hooks, however, for every power punch Lara landed, Williams immediately engaged Lara right after getting hit, which may have swayed the judges mind. One good power punch or a 2-3 punch combo with the aggressor coming forward?
Clean and Effective punching- This one is a little more difficult to determine. Lara was the clean power puncher and Williams was the more effective puncher. (i.e. more combos, threw more punches)
As I said in the previous paragraph, Lara did land the harder shots, but Williams was the aggressor and stayed in Lara’s back pocket when he did get hit. One cannot judge a 3 minute round on a 10 second flurry, but judge the entire 3 minutes and choose who -one had the effective punching and two-who had the clean punching? If you split those into two categories, then it’s a draw; both men showed both the traits. After that, one would have to look at who was the aggressor, who landed more, who threw more punches, who had better defense and overall looked like the better fighter?
One has remember that the judges are basing their judging on the fight without the help of commentators talking about one guy or the other, as well as not seeing the compubox stats on who was landing and throwing more punches or a replay of highlights from the previous round. They are judging the fight as it unfolds. That makes a big difference in the mind of the viewer.
In the end, the judges for the fight felt that Williams did enough to win more than 6 rounds. Fair or not, that was their decision. I hope that they were not in the backpocket of one of the promoters or that something illegal was going on in the fight. I hope for the sake of the sport, the judges made the call on what they saw Saturday night and nothing more. Good or Bad.
And then…
I, by no means am a judge or claim to be, but this fight has become a bigger topic than I feel it should be. I was at the fight live and scored it for Lara 7 rounds to 5. I could have easily been swayed in a couple early rounds as well as the 11th (maybe) and gave it to Williams or a draw. However, for the NJSAC to suspend the judges indefinitely was a bit much. If the NJSAC felt the judges did a poor job, require more training; do not allow them to judge high profile fights for a bit. What about the individual who appointed all three judges? Did anyone ask how they chose these three judges? Is there a process or criteria list as to what a judge needs to do before they judge world title fights?
I personally feel that the suspension was the only way to clear themselves of any wrongdoing. The NJSAC makes a lesser call on the judges and perhaps down the road a fight ends up in Detroit instead of AC because of the judging? They want to show all promoters that NJSAC will not tolerate questionable judging. The NJSAC has that right and made the best decision possible; I think they went too far.
The decision was horrible, no doubt but the NJ boxing commision should also looking into the criteria used to determine what qualified someone top be a boxing judge.
To Gabreal; Great point! I agree 100 per cent with your assessment of the hiring responsibility process. The person, or persons, placing these individuals on a professional level should also be put under the microscope. And yes investigations are both painstaking and even costly, but these types of unjust outcomes not only drive away the fans but the effect on the boxers themselves can be life changing. The Williams/Lara contest is a chance to at least make a stern example that we’ve reached a level where we won’t slide-it-under-the-rug any longer. Your question to me about my opinion of coincidence or cheating ? I personally feel that there was something other than “coincidence” that occurred . As I stated, I can fully understand how a seated position can effect the outcome of some of the scoring, I’ve been there myself, but again, I watched this contest three different times (also remember to shut-off the TV commentary when reviewing a fight) and I just can not see a coincidence here. The fact that we’re debating this issue so strongly is great and is good for the health of the sport. All of our opinions help, thanks for your good insight.
Jay- Appreciate the kind words.
First, I scored the fight for Lara, however I had the fight even through 8 rounds. Just for the sake of arguing, rd 3 was close IMO, Williams was coming forward and even with the punches that were landed by Lara, I could see where Williams won that round with his aggressivness more so than Lara’s power punching. Williams, also landed some of his own shots that round.
So with that being said- I gave that round to Lara, but IF I had given that round to Williams and kept all the rest the same (scoring)- I have it 6-6 a draw. I would have been fine with that.
Donald- My only question would be that if the judging was not just coincidence but they all scored it roughly the same, then do you think it was poor individual judging or something more illegal? Cheating? I also feel of someone is going to suspend ALL 3 judges for the fight, then who hired them? Where does the hiring board member or whomever put these judges in the position fall into this whole issue? Is this individual going to be putting other judges in the same position for other fights? I feel that the judging issues is deeper than these 3 judges and the process needs to be looked at. That will require more funding, etc that most if not all athletic commissions do not have.
In years past I have been inside a ring as a competitor and outside a ring both as a spectator and as a judge. I know all too well that as a ringside judge the particular angle that one sits at can have an effect on seeing if certain punches were or were not landed, and effective punching is of course the main criteria for scoring a professional contest. I’ve watched this fight three times now, and in this instance I cannot possibly understand how all three judges could have blown this call ? The national public outcry on this decision is warranted, you don’t give a fighter a decision simply because he keeps moving his hands, the punches have to be scoring effectively, period ! Something other than three sets of bad eyes (at three separate angles no less) happened here. The chance of a coincidence occurring ? Lets see now, three judges , that should not be licensed judges, chosen to judge the same fight ? Or perhaps all three judges were at angles that didn’t give them a very good view of effective punches that were being landed all night ? Something stinks with this one ! The states athletic commission rightfully suspended all three of them (when can anyone recall that ever happening before ?), and, this is a really laughable, they’re going to require those three judges to be re-trained ! How did they get licensed in the first place if they weren’t fit to judge a professional contest ? No, the state athletic commissions need to take a stand and put a stop to this crap once and for all, do the right thing and send a message that this has to stop and will not be tolerated ! All three of those judges need their licenses pulled and should never be allowed to judge a professional contest again ! The athletes and the fans deserve fairness and honesty. Make an example of these three and we’ll start to see these injustices finally start ending. Hopefully…
they need to over tern that disision lara won all the round exept for two willams won 4 and 5 thats all
Good article Gabreal, I like how you explained what the judges are faced with when judging a fight because alot of ppl dont know that. Those of us who watch alot of boxing have a good idea of what they’re looking for, the way you scored it sounds like what I was expecting from the judges. I watched the fight twice and cant see how Williams could have won more than 4 rounds tops. I thought Lara won the fight clearly. He landed the cleaner, harder punches threw the whole fight. I’m not a judge either and tried to understand how they came up with those scores but I just cant understand how you have Williams winning that fight. Even if by a small margin Lara won that fight, but I dont think the fight was close enough to even call it a draw. I agree with the suspention because this kind of thing is happening way to often and it needs to stop.
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