Judging the judges

There should be an age limit for boxing judges. This is not to discriminate against the elderly. But take the case of 71-year-old Guy Jutras who was a judge in the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez fight in Las Vegas last weekend.

Jutras scored it 115-110 for Marquez and awarded 10 of the last 11 rounds to the Mexican. Either the Montreal native deliberately turned a blind eye to Pacquiao or he couldn’t follow the action with a failing vision.

Let’s give Jutras the benefit of the doubt and assume he’s not dishonest. Let’s just say he’s too old for the job.

For a geriatric like Jutras, it may be easier to judge a heavyweight contest because the big guys are lumbering and not as quick as the fighters in the lighter weights. But keeping track of the punches that Pacquiao and Marquez–who are both blessed with blinding handspeed–connect in the ring may be too much to ask of a septuagenarian.

It’s also possible that promoter Bob Arum influenced Jutras to protect Marquez. Arum not only manages Marquez but also World Boxing Council superfeatherweight champion Erik Morales. Robbing Pacquiao of victory meant derailing the Filipino’s plan of challenging Morales in July.

Jutras’ history of incompetence is well-known in boxing circles. In 1985, he scored a draw when it was obvious Wilfredo Gomez outfought Rocky Lockridge in a World Boxing Association (WBA) junior lightweight title match. The two other judges saw it for Gomez who won on a majority decision. Then only three years ago, Jutras had it 115-112 for Manuel Siaca who clearly lost to Byron Mitchell in a WBA supermiddleweight championship fight. The two other judges Ove Oveson and Tom Kaczmarek saw it identical 114-112 for Mitchell.

If not for incompetence, Jutras should’ve been retired long ago because of age.

Most of the judges are too old or lack eye coordination, wrote David Avila and Jesus Jimenez in Upper Cut Magazine.

Ruben Castillo, who fought in four world title bouts, said: "They have to get rid of these (old) guys. Either they can’t see or they’re just too old. Every time there’s a big fight in Las Vegas, the judges give it to the fighter with a certain promoter. The judges are killing the fights."

In world title bouts, the practice is the sanctioning body submits a list of preferred judges to be selected by the state athletic commission. The promoter pays the judges’ fees and is known to influence the commission in choosing the jury. Without the promoter, the commission earns no sanction fee. The managers of the main event fighters are consulted on the choice of the judges but the final decision is made by the commission.

In Nevada, the pay scale for a judge starts at $70 for a club fight, $125 for an ESPN or USA Network weekly fight, $550 for a Home Box Office (HBO) undercard non-televised fight all the way up to $7,500 for a major TV heavyweight title bout. The fee to judge the Pacquiao-Marquez bout was at least $3,000 each.

Another judge in the Pacquiao-Marquez fight was Burt Clements who took out his boxing official’s license only four years ago. His lack of experience was evident when he confessed to a grievous mistake by scoring 10-7 for Pacquiao when it should’ve been 10-6 in the first round. Clements has been a judge in at least two Morales titlefights, indicating he’s an Arum favorite.

"Not everyone accuses the judges of favoritism or cheating," said Avila and Jimenez. "Some feel the judges are simply inept. Several hoxing experts feel there should be a uniform method of judging a fight. Some judges score more for body punches, some for jabs, others for defensive ability to slip punches, others for power shots. The one common factor among all boxing commissions is there is no common system."

Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Marc Ratner admitted that "judging is so subjective (because) every judge is different and philosophy by judges is what counts."

Avila and Jimenez said until each state commission develops a described philosophy, there will always be massive controversy after every close 12-round decision.

Stephen Totilo, writing in Boxing Digest, said "Ratner acknowledges there is no way to prevent people from approaching officials with bribes and other forms of influence and says that he must simply rely on the confidence he has placed in the people he has chosen to be judges in his state."

Totilo said the real problem of the susceptibility of judges to political interests from every direction needs to be addressed.

"Lack of consistency is indeed an uglier problem with boxing scores," continued Totilo. "Examples abound of judges who score fights dramatically differently from their counterparts. Because the action that takes place within a boxing ring is far more subjective than the action of other sports, judges’ verdicts will always be more opinion than fact, debatable to the very end."

In sum, the odds were stacked against Pacquiao in Las Vegas. He had to score a knockout to win. Pacquiao was lucky to escape defeat. No wonder Pacquiao’s business manager Rod Nazario said he will never participate in an Arum promotion again.