Tyson Fury’s draw with Deontay Wilder proves boxing will never be an exact science
Over the years there have been lots of results that have left boxing fans open-mouthed in shock
BOXING is often no different to Strictly Come Dancing, synchronised swimming, figure skating or gymnastics when it comes to finding a winner.
They all rely on the opinion of judges — and very often the men and women who add up the scores take a completely opposite view to the majority of spectators.
Along with millions of others, I thought Tyson Fury was blatantly robbed of victory against Deontay Wilder — and the draw verdict a travesty of justice.
Alejandro Rochin, a Mexico-born American, is the latest official to be on the receiving end of ridicule and abuse as his 115-111 scorecard in Wilder’s favour was incomprehensible.
The only good to come out of that highly contentious decision is that there’s every chance we will see Fury and Wilder go at it again next year.
Unfortunately, where boxing’s concerned there will never be a VAR system to guarantee a correct result.
The problem is a simple one — judging will never be an exact science.
Controversial big-fight decisions have plagued boxing since David fought Goliath 2,500 years ago.
We have learnt to live with it despite it being unpalatable.
Cries of corruption go up whenever a scorecard is exposed as being laughably wrong.
The most extreme was when Adalaide Byrd somehow came to the conclusion Canelo Alvarez had beaten Gennady Golovkin by 118-110 in their first fight.
If Byrd had been corrupt she would have scored it 114-113 and not drawn attention to herself.
She just proved she was incompetent, like Rochin has.
Governing bodies should ensure they will never be allowed anywhere near a major fight again — along with anyone else who make fools of themselves and the sport.
Four fights in my 50-odd years at ringside that caused more acrimony than most were the battles between Leonard and Hagler, Lewis and Holyfield I, Whitaker and Chavez and Park Si Hun and Roy Jones Jr at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
But nothing compares to the recriminations that followed when referee Harry Gibbs — before we had judges in this country — lifted Joe Bugner’s hand to relieve Henry Cooper, of his British, Commmonwealth and European titles.
That was back in March 1971 and the rows are still going on to this day.
BBC commentator Harry Carpenter stirred up the nation when the fight was shown the following evening, moaning: “How can they take away that man’s three titles like this.”
I shall never forget the furious reaction of the 10,000 sell-out crowd in Wembley’s Empire Pool, when they realised Our ’Enery, a national institution, had been judged the loser.
Police had to escort Gibbs out of the arena when some fans moved menacingly towards him as he climbed out of the ropes.
But Gibbs, a teak-tough Bermondsey docker who was captured at Dunkirk and spent five years in a German POW camp, was unperturbed by the uproar and stood by his decision until the day he died.
He won a High Court libel action against Cooper over remarks he made in a book and their bitter feud lasted 27 years.
Eventually, they publicly shook hands at a charity boxing function.
Boxing thrives on controversy more than most sports.
But as philosopher William Hazlitt wisely said 200 years ago: “When a thing ceases to be a subject of controversy, it ceases to be a subject of interest.”
I’ll drink to that.