Golovkin furore prompts calls for radical overhaul of judging system
Senior figures in boxing last night called for an overhaul of the judging system in the wake of the controversy that overshadowed Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez’s fight here on Saturday.
The bout was ruled to have ended in a draw, thanks largely to one of the judges, Adalaide Byrd, scoring it 118-110 in Alvarez’s favour, a decision that perplexed most commentators and caused her to be stood down temporarily from major fights by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Mauricio Sulaiman, president of the World Boxing Council, whose middleweight belt Golovkin retains by dint of the draw, has led calls for a radical revamp of the way fights are judged, including scores to be announced publicly after the fourth and eighth rounds and judges to be given noise-cancelling headphones.
Sulaiman told The Daily Telegraph: “It [the judging] was horrible. It was the 118-110 that blew everybody’s mind. I think it was a very good fight, a close fight, but Triple G [Golovkin] did enough – he dominated the fight.
“If those judges had those noisecancelling headphones, it would have been a different concentration mode. If the scores were announced at the end of the fourth and eighth rounds, it would have been a different situation for the corners. It’s just a matter of understanding it’s a system which is not working and we have to do something.”
Sulaiman, Golovkin’s promoter Tom Loeffler and trainer Abel Sanchez also called for the creation of a panel of 15 judges to be created, with ranking points awarded to create an elite list. At present, each state’s athletic commission in America chooses its own judges.
“There should be a panel well known to everybody,” said Sulaiman. “We have an elimination process and it’s just a matter of having to do it.”
Loeffler added: “I think for these types of high-profile fights, it shouldn’t even be a question that the best judges should be involved.”
Sanchez called for action against Byrd by the NSAC. “She should be sanctioned,” he said. “There should be some kind of investigation done. This is not the first time she has done this.”