Boxing Judges John Stewart & Craig Metcalfe
JUDGES STEWART & METCALFE SHOULD HAVE BEEN “HANDCUFFED” RINGSIDE!
San Francisco, CA– Remember the outrage when Paul Williams was given a Majority Decision win over Erislandy Lara fight that took place in Atlantic City earlier this year? The three judges, Donald Givens (116-114), Hilton Whitaker (115-114) & Al Bennett (114-114) were all suspended within a few days because of the outrage displayed by both the media and fans alike. Tonight, in the same city and venue, Andre Ward25-0, 14 KOs) captured the Showtime Super Six 168 lb. Boxing Classic with a unanimous decision over England’s Carl Froch with Canadian judge Craig Metcalfe and American jurist John Stewart scored the fight for Ward 115-113, or 7-5 in rounds. The third official scorer, John Keane of the UK tabbed the match 118-110 (10-2 in rounds) for Ward.
GAVE FROCH A “SYMPATHY” ROUND
I had things 119-109, (11-1 in rounds) this after giving Froch one round in which he had done a lot better than he had in any of the others. Instead of calling it even, I threw the Englishman an unwarranted bone. Froch, 28-2, 20 KOs, was so completely outclassed that the pro-Froch English TV crew gave him two rounds (118-110). So for all of you that thought the Erislandy Lara-Paul Williams fight was scored atrociously and agreed with the judges being suspended, Craig Metcalfe and John Stewart should not have been suspended, no they have been arrested at ringside for their Ward 7-5 scorecards. There is no way in this world that Metcalfe and Stewart can explain their scoring, unless they are either willing to admit that they are incredibly inept, or horribly corrupted.
HOW ELSE CAN A “SANE” PERSON EXPLAIN IT?
Having got on the phone and the Internet right after the fight, I polled five “wise” guys who all scored the fight 119-111 or 11-1 in rounds. Kevin Perry, a staff writer here at RingTalk.com, like yours truly, tabbed the fight 119-109. Said Perry, “I had a hard time giving him a round, let alone two.” I am asking that like the NFL does when an official makes a huge gaff, they sit them down and the last thing the NFL would do put their inept officials in championship or playoff games. That is the difference between boxing and an honest sport. In football, the inept are ostracized, in boxing, these two guys will be working again and making $5,000 a night for their ineptness or corruption.
WHICH LEADS ME BACK TO THE HOWARD COSELL QUOTE
“You can’t clean dirt!”
Pedro Fernandez