HELLO FROM DICKIE COLE COUNTRY!
Austin, TX– Let me start off with the fact that I score fights, both amateur and professional, and have for 35+ years in a number of jurisdictions. Most people know of me without knowing me. Pedro and I don’t always see “eye to eye” and when he told me to “shut up or put up” recently in an infamous Dallas eatery, well here I am “putting up.” That is the reason I have decided to start writing here at RingTalk.com.
Bradley (L) & Provodnikov (R)
HERE TO ARGUE FIRST TWO ROUNDS NOT FINAL SCORE!
That being said, the first two rounds of the Tim Bradley-Ruslan Provodnikov match looked from my position to be clearly 10-8 rounds. The punishment Ruslan put on Bradley was severe and dominant. The Siberian, who did not get the call on a knockdown which looked to be genuine in the opening round, was beating Bradley to the punch with powerful shots. They talk about “winning a round close, moderately or in dominant fashion.”
FIRST TWO ROUNDS ALL WENT 10-9 RUSLAN
To me the first six minutes between Provodnikov and Bradley were so one-sided where one would have thought that all three judges would have seen it that way. You DON’T need a knockdown to merit a 10-8 round. As it turns out not one of the California judges scored the round 10-8 and Provodnikov lost 114-113 twice and 115-112. The only round in which the judges did not agree was the 11th as two went for Provodnikov, while one tabbed the winner of the round as Bradley.
WOULD NOT HAVE CHANGED MATTERS
A lot of those Internet know-it-alls thought that thought the missing knockdown cost Provodnikov the WBO 147 lb. No, had the referee counted the first round downing of Bradley as a knockdown, the fight would have been a Majority Draw at 114-114 twice and 114-113. Now had the judges given Ruslan 10-8 rounds in both of the opening rounds, he would have won a Split Decision 12 with tabulations of 114-113 twice and 113-112 Bradley.
JUDGES DON’T SCORE BRUISES
As a judge, I’m not supposed to allow the condition of a fighter’s bruised face to impact my decision. Some of you Internet yocals thought that Ruslan lost because of the way his face was battered. That has nothing to do with the scoring of a professional boxing match, something writers, pundits and fans alike, as a whole they don’t understand.
Jacque Mehofften