I don't see this often talked about but last time I watched this fight in 60 FPS I actually scored 13th round a 10-8 round for Holmes. He catches Norton midway through the round with an uppercut, and Norton is hurt for the remainder of the round as Holmes hammers him with right hands. Even almost dropping Norton at the end of the round who seemed frozen. Is there an argument for a 10-8 round here ? Or am I completely bonkers ?
I think it would be taking the ‘decisive scoring’ liberal use of point differential to the extreme — beyond accepted use — to score it 10-8. I just went back and looked, and while it’s a one-sided round I don’t think Larry quite reached the threshold of causing ‘major damage’ that would be needed to make it a two-point round. Norton was clearly competitive for the first 1 1/2 to 2 minutes (although nowhere close to taking the round or winning exchanges) and he got raked over a big in the final minute or so. The main thing is, I don’t think Larry ever buckled Norton or had him in real distress that might make one think Norton was teetering on the brink of a stoppage or nearly going down. To me he’d need to have that kind of advantage to win it by two points. Now one can argue that rounds like this should be scored 10-8 to differentiate them from rounds where a guy gets a slight edge, but that’s not accepted practice.
No, not quite, although there is an argument to make alterations to the system but scoring more rounds 10-8 maybe, but that'd have to go across the board in every fight. Round 6 of the Ray-Tommy I is a prime example of this.
D, there is an argument here and you're not bonkers (but then you'll have to take into account whose telling you this). I haven't watched it in a good few years but always remember it as competitive but a good round for Holmes. After studying it again today, I gotta go along with my original conclusion. Norton was very competitive that round, but ate a ton of rights from Holmes. Just a damn good round from Holmes without making it to 10-8. I do love the nucleus of this thread. Could you expand on it and make a thread on other fights that possibly have a 10-8 round without a knockdown?
