Just watched the replay, did the judges get this right? Close fight but I think Graf did enough. Thoughts? I reckon a second fight is in order.
I thought a draw would have been a good decision. In a close fight it's usually the local that gets the decision. The worst part about it was the fact that the Ramadan corner knew they'd won during that long delay while the scores were being checked. Andy Raymond let the cat out of the bag when he said at the end of the 8th round that the word at ringside was that the judges' scorecards were all even. Obviously, one, or more, of the officials were passing on the scores. It didn't show the Victorian ANBF officials up in a good light.
Honestly when its taking 5-6 mins to add up the scorecards its not a good look and if your not the house fighter your ****ed! There should be a rematch because it was a great fight and Graf was unlucky so they need to do it again on neutral turf.
The commentator said at the beginning of the 9th round that if the fight had ended at the 8th round it would have been a draw. He also read the scores out after I think the 6th round. First time I have ever seen it and it had nothing to do with the Victorian ANBF officials as they were all WBC officials that judged that fight.
Bad decision, couldn't expect much more in Victoria. The scoring in the Aus title fight was also ****. Fletcher won 9 rounds. Yet the judges had it close.
Optional rule. Either it's fully declared or just corners. On this occasion it appears only corners opted to know. As to how commentator Andy was aware will no doubt remain a secret
Fightnews.com report. WBC makes pitch for open scoring WBC Statement: The World Boxing Council ratified unanimously the implementation of the partialopen scoring rule to be used in WBC-sanctioned bouts. The rule allows the announcement of the official scoring of the judges after the 4th and 8th rounds. The WBC has used open scoring for 6 years all around the world. The results have been extremely positive without a single incident that would have compromised the integrity of the sport or the bout. To the contrary, the use of the rule has provided the fans at the arena and TV spectators great drama in the last 4 rounds. Moreimportantly, the use of open scoring has given both fighters the fair opportunity to adjust their strategy during the fight. The boxing community in general, but especially the fighters and trainers who have experienced the open scoring rule, are overwhelmingly in favor of its use. The WBC Board of Governors also approved the option to use a limited form of open scoring. Under the limited rule, only the corners would receive the official scores after the 4th and 8th rounds. The limited rule intends to cover instances when the jurisdiction does not permit the announcement of the scores to the public. The WBC would like to work with the Association of Boxing Commissions in the U.S., and with the commissions of every U.S. jurisdiction toward the implementation of some form of open scoring during WBC-sanctioned fights. The State of Arkansas used open scoring during the Jermain Taylor versus KassimOuma fight on December 9, 2006. More recently, the State of Texas used the limited open scoring rule during recent Chavez Jr. versus Rubio WBC Championship fight. I am very happy with this practice; I thought I was winning with a clear advantage but in reality the judges had a much closer fight, so I gave it all in the last 4 rounds and I was victorious. (Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.) It is a wonderful rule; I had used it in Mexico before and it helped my strategy tremendously in this fight against Chavez (Hector Sanchez, trainer of Marco Antonio Rubio). The links immediately below include Sugar Ray Leonard and Lennox Lewis very positive statements about the open scoring rule upon being asked about it. http://vimeo.com/37327389 (Sugar Ray Leonard) [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoZVcv46uII[/ame] (Lennox Lewis) The WBC respects the authority and jurisdiction of each country, state and local commission, and it will work together with those agencies to try to establish the open scoring rule in the U.S. The WBC believes that the rule is a great tool for fighters to strive toward a just result. It also allows the fighters to act and react based on accurate and non-speculative information about the judges scores while the fight is still ongoing. In short, the open scoring rule prevents the surprise and shock that can come with learning that the actual scores are totally different from what each corner thought they were. This content is protected