WBC seeks uniformity among judges’ decisions

More than 400 people from all over the world sat in a meeting room Wednesday at Mandalay Bay Convention Center, faced with the futile task of agreeing on what they were seeing on big-screen monitors.

That these people were boxing judges explains the difficulty in trying to gain a consensus. They were attending a seminar hosted by the World Boxing Council during its annual convention, with the goal of striving to find uniformity in scoring fights.

Being a boxing judge is an inexact science. Each person sees and looks for different things to determine which fighter won a particular round. Some focus on the effectiveness in punches. Others look for ring generalship. Others look for overall aggressiveness. A fighter who displays superior defense might get the nod in the eyes of some judges.

But the WBC is asking its judges to look at fights the same way. It seems to be an impossible task.

Jerry Roth has judged fights in Nevada since the late 1970s. He's not sure having uniformity in judging is possible.

"It's hard because everyone is from all over the world and sees things differently," Roth said. "Striving to be consistent in scoring a fight is a more realistic goal."

A classic case of what Roth is referring to when it comes to seeing the same fight differently was the Nov. 12 trilogy bout between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand Garden.

Pacquiao won a majority decision. Judge Glenn Trowbridge scored the fight 116-112 and Dave Moretti had it 115-113, both for Pacquiao, while Robert Hoyle had it 114-114. The difference between what Trowbridge might have seen in a certain round or what Moretti didn't see might have been the difference between Marquez getting a draw, if not a win.

Trowbridge was widely criticized after the fight, even though his score was just one point different from Moretti's.

Adalaide Byrd also has been a fight judge for more than 30 years. Like Roth, Byrd isn't sure judges always can be on the same page when scoring a fight.

"I don't know if it's attainable," she said. "We should be looking at giving credit for the same thing."

To that end, Wednesday's seminar saw the judges participate in an exercise that had them judge 12 rounds from 12 fights, including the spectacular sixth round of the Victor Ortiz-Andre Berto WBC welterweight title fight April 16 in which both fighters were knocked down.

True to form, diverse opinions surfaced on each round of each fight. To compound matters, the exercise included the audio from the TV commentators in an attempt to distract the judges.

Tim Cheatham picked up on that aspect. To Cheatham, who has been a professional judge in Nevada since 2009, concentration is the key element in his ability to judge a fight.

"I try to block everything out and just focus on what I'm supposed to be watching," he said. "To me, concentration is everything."

To help reduce potential distractions from crowd noise, the WBC will have its judges use earplugs or other audio-blocking devices when working its title fights beginning in 2012.

"If it will help my focus and concentration," Cheatham said, "I'm all for it."

Despite not being required to attend by the Nevada Athletic Commission, most of Las Vegas' 14 boxing judges attended the seminar.

A fight judge in Nevada makes anywhere from $200 for an undercard fight on a club card to $5,000 for a megafight. But the commission grades them the same way, and for veterans such as Roth and Byrd and relative newcomers such as Cheatham, the three hours spent at Mandalay Bay were productive in their attempt to stay sharp.

"You can always come away with something that will help you," Byrd said. "It's like with anything: You can never get enough information."

Cheatham said learning from his peers can only make him a better judge.

"It will help my confidence," he said. "There's a lot of people in this room that have so much experience that I can learn from."

Even if they're not always on the same page.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.