Mayweather: Judges Must Score More Than 30 Seconds of Rounds

[Ruthless-RKO]

Floyd Mayweather Jr. suspects two judges were swayed Saturday night by what Adonis Stevenson accomplished in short spurts.

The retired superstar, whose company promotes Badou Jack, believes his fighter did more than enough to out-point Stevenson and win the WBC light heavyweight title from him. That didn’t happen, according to Mayweather, because judges Guido Cavalleri and Eric Marlinski didn’t give Jack enough credit for what he accomplished during some rounds in which Stevenson had brief success.

Mayweather gave Jack credit for winning seven of the 12-rounds at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. That’s exactly how judge Jesse Reyes scored the fight for Jack, 115-113.

Mayweather admitted during the post-fight press conference that Jack (22-1-3, 13 KOs) started slow Saturday night.

“He gave the first three rounds away,” Mayweather said. “I’m just speaking honest. One thing with me, I have to be honest with these fighters today. He gave the first three rounds away. But then, after that, picked up the pace. Combinations, right hands, left hooks, body shots. And then, the 11th round – even though Adonis Stevenson did win, they gave him the 11th round. But he landed a good body shot towards the end, I think the last 30 seconds of the 10th round. Then the 11th round, he came out strong for one minute.

“So a lot of time, what we do as judges, we have to look at all three minutes of the round. Sometimes we just look at 30 seconds of the round, whereas that’s I’m trying to say, a lot of times we’re not doing our homework, we’re slacking. Even like the writers and the spectators, we only remember the last 30 seconds or the last 20 seconds. Well, remembering the last 30 seconds, what about two minutes and 30 seconds, before the last 30 seconds?”

“I feel that Adonis Stevenson won the first three rounds, clearly,” Mayweather said. “But then, around the fourth round, it started taking a toll. So, and then he came back on and he won I think around the fifth. So if I called the fight, I would call the fight a 7-5, you know, leaning towards Badou. And it’s not me being biased. In the 11th round, [Stevenson] came on strong. But also, he came on strong in the first minute of the 11th round. But then, two minutes in the 11th round, he gave away.”

Mayweather noticed Stevenson stealing rounds in his own way.

“Like I said before, with the judges, a lot of times what we have to start watching is the whole round,” Mayweather said. “Sometimes a guy can come on. ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard was one of the masters of doing that. In the last 30 seconds, he’d throw a flurry and steal a round. It was a smart move, though. What we have to stop watching is what we tend to watch. It’s just when a guy do something good in a round, instead of watching the whole round.”

[Ruthless-RKO]

Sometimes, Mayweather 'the promoter' talks sense.

[SenorPipino]

Of course he's right.

I think judges (AND fans) have a tendency to remember the final 30 seconds of a round best and often ignore the first 150 seconds especially if nothing overly significant occurred during that first portion.

Stealing rounds late is a time honored tradition in boxing.

Still a draw wasn't a bad decision.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Stealing rounds late is a time honored tradition in boxing.

It happens all the time, where boxer a has done some good work throughout the round, all of a sudden, last 30 seconds come and boxer b lands a 9 punch combo or something. It';s not fair to ignore that boxer a outworked boxer b for most of the round..

[Joe Boxer]

Ok, but Mayweather was known for that

[Ruthless-RKO]

Ok, but Mayweather was known for that

He's trying to shift the example on Sugar Ray Leonard.

[IKSRTFO]

He's correct. Only thing is if they did that, his scores for fights like Castillo and Judah would look different.

[Mexi-Box]

I'm not reading that, but if he's complaining about the Jack fight, he's lucky Jack got a draw. Stevenson won that fight.

[lazboy]

Mayweathers on the money as per usual also....If a judge is not sure....they should have the confidence to give a 10 - 10 round.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Mayweathers on the money as per usual also....If a judge is not sure....they should have the confidence to give a 10 - 10 round.

That's just it. Judges try to avoid 10-10..

When I score fights, it's usually the 1st round I'd give a 10-10, because hardly anything happens. But recently, I've been trying to split them.

[lazboy]

Mayweathers on the money as per usual also....If a judge is not sure....they should have the confidence to give a 10 - 10 round.

That's just it. Judges try to avoid 10-10..

When I score fights, it's usually the 1st round I'd give a 10-10, because hardly anything happens. But recently, I've been trying to split them.

there’s definetly pressure to award someone the round...... That’s why I feel it would be a good idea to hire ex fighters..not biased ones..... you’d need to vet them of course. ones who have the courage to award an even round. Automatically I’d think a fighter would have this courage....I watched a doc or it was discussed on here can’t remeber this could give some ex fighter employment after their fighting days are done. That way boxing looks after itself. Anyway Even rounds....we need to see more of it.

[Deleted_Scenes]

Mayweathers on the money as per usual also....If a judge is not sure....they should have the confidence to give a 10 - 10 round.

That's just it. Judges try to avoid 10-10..

When I score fights, it's usually the 1st round I'd give a 10-10, because hardly anything happens. But recently, I've been trying to split them.

there’s definetly pressure to award someone the round...... That’s why I feel it would be a good idea to hire ex fighters..not biased ones..... you’d need to vet them of course. ones who have the courage to award an even round. Automatically I’d think a fighter would have this courage....I watched a doc or it was discussed on here can’t remeber this could give some ex fighter employment after their fighting days are done. That way boxing looks after itself. Anyway Even rounds....we need to see more of it.

I think the mentality of never awarding a 10-10 round is more an American thing. Elsewhere, they do happen. Not every fight, and judges try to find a separation if they can, but outside America they're less afraid of calling a round even.

I'd also like to see greater use of the 10 point system. Why have it if it's not used?

10-10 even round
10-9 close
10-8 clear
10-7 dominant

Etc.

Then deduct for knockdowns from there.

As far as Mayweather's comment about scoring every second, I agree. But, as a fighter, you lose the right to complain, if you choose not to fight every round. It was in your hands.

[Ruthless-RKO]

I think the mentality of never awarding a 10-10 round is more an American thing. Elsewhere, they do happen. Not every fight, and judges try to find a separation if they can, but outside America they're less afraid of calling a round even.

I realised. Sky pundits tend to score 10-10 rounds often on their unofficial scorecards.

[ClivePatrickLyons]

Floyd hit the nail on the head you must judge every second of the 3 minutes in a round that's why I had it 115-113 for Adonis Stevenson another thing Floyd was almost right about and that was how Jack started slow it was more like 5 round's not 3 that Jack gave away this fight was one very close fight no one clearly won it......that's a fact Jack will rue the day he let the WBC Light Heavyweight strap slip. Adonis did just enough to hold on to it the guy is 40 years old and not much left in the tank I don't think.

[fanman]

it was a very close fight in rounds. always there will be close rounds and it comes down to opinion, or what you see. goodness, it must be different even live rather than on tv.
in a very close fight a draw is fair. adonis is 40 and clearly was much better 5 yrs ago, so should probably hand them up very soon.