CRAIG JOHNS BREAKS THE FIRST RULE Something’s afoot as judges get leathering

MANY have labelled it a Fight of the Year contender, but sadly, like many top contests in recent years, Josh Leather-Glenn Foot was marred by the controversy of the scorecards.

Frank Warren fighter Leather was given the unanimous decision on all three scorecards after a thrilling battle which saw Sunderland’s Foot put the Guisborough man down in the second round.

Sitting at ringside, I had it close. I hadn’t scored it round by round at the time but felt the contest going narrowly either way would have been hard to argue against.

I’ve since watched it back and despite two points deducted from Foot, I scored him a 113-112 winner.

What I can’t understand are the two judges who scored 115-110 and 114-111. Those are far too wide and as pointed out by the BoxNation team after, it would have meant even without the two points deducted Leather would have still come away victorious.

Leather’s camp felt his last-round flurry was what won him the fight.

It was a bad night for the officials, something this sport can’t afford too often. Mistakes happen and people see fights differently, but those two scorecards really were bizarre. In a sport that is niche and trying to attract as many viewers as possible, controversies like this do nothing but hamper the sport, which is why judging must improve.

Let’s start with the two points referee Steve Gray took from Foot.

Gray is a world-class official, but like two of the judges, I have to feel he had an off night here.

A good referee should go unnoticed in a fight and although this was a scrappy one he simply had to get involved in, it felt watching back like his attentions were on one man more than the other.

It was in the sixth round he took away the first point. Foot hit Leather after the break, having previously been warned for it. That’s fair enough, but Leather’s own indiscretions in the fight had gone largely unchallenged by Mr Gray. In the second, when he hit after the break, Mr Gray told both fighters off and also offered Leather valuable time to recover from the earlier knockdown. Josh Leather (blue shorts) reacts after beating Glenn Foot (black shorts)

It was in the tenth that the second point was deducted. This time it because Foot’s gumshield came out for the fourth time. Mr Gray saw that as a deliberate attempt by Foot to earn a few extra seconds of recovery time. However, replays showed they were accidental. While deducting the point, the referee indicated it was deliberate but the replay showed he’d actually been looking at Leather when Foot knocked the gumshield out by accident as he tried to wipe his mouth.

Regardless, because of the scorecards, the two points off would have only made the decision a split one, rather than unanimous, and that scoring must come under scrutiny.

It was a scrappy fight. The bad tempered build-up spilled into the action too, with Foot taking the fight to Leather. The Teessider failed to establish his reach and long jab to keep Foot off.

Foot did a lot of his work on the inside, getting in real close and hammering away.

In fairness to the judges, from ringside and with three different vantage points on other sides of the ring, work like this can be easy to miss.

But justifying scoring as wide as they did would be hard.

After the fight, Jamie Moore, a former British great who had a similar style to that of Foot, said he’d scored it in Foot’s favour and noted the judges had clearly ignored his clever work on the inside. Steve Bunce admitted he’d scored it seven rounds in Foot’s favour, making him a one-point winner, which would appear to match my own card.

The wide cards are simply poor. It turns people off from the sport.

It’s not the first time this year that it’s the scorecards we’re talking about. Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin ended in a controversial draw. Bad judging is plaguing this great sport.

The logical thing now is for the North East pair to do it again. Rematch.

After such a classic, filled with bad blood and animosity, there would certainly be a thirst for it.

Sadly, given Warren has high hopes for Leather and his world title ambitions, I’d be very surprised if he wants Leather anywhere near Foot again.

None of this should take away from Leather’s quality, mind you. There’s no doubting he’s one of the brightest prospects in the region who should certainly go on to win a world title.

He’s a classy boxer, but on this night he largely neglected that skill and was drawn into a war.

It takes two to tango, though, and we’re talking about a potential Fight of the Year because both Foot and Leather went to war. Leather’s own heart and fight should not be understated.

I’d love to see a rematch, I’m just not so sure we will.

* Newcastle’s Lewis Ritson will make the first defence of his British lightweight title on December 17.

Ritson has been matched in an intriguing clash against Hull’s Tommy Coyle on the huge David Haye-Tony Bellew II undercard.

After his breakthrough performance against Robbie Barrett to win the Lord Lonsdale strap, Coyle is another step-up for Ritson.

Coyle has been involved in some big fights in recent years and his huge right hand has seen him score some highlightreel knockouts.

Ritson will hope to rely on his speed and skill to keep out of trouble and bring the belt back to Forest Hall.