Upon reviewing the last few rounds, I was shocked to catch a glimpse of Lederman's card going into the 12th...he had Vasiliy up 105-103, meaning that without the knockdown Toney would have lost. :blood http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz8cmqjfWBA The official scores are far more reasonable. I think Harold's been shot as a judge since he switched tables. He wasn't that bad back when his professional opinion actually counted.
Lederman's "critera" is a bit ****ed sometimes. "Jirov was the one doing the pressuring!" And who was landing all the clean punches again, and more of them, Harold?
I had Toney winning, but not as clearly as the judges on the night. I think I had it 7-5 Toney with 2 points deducted for Jirov.
He also had Duran Williams two points ahead of the other judges before being stopped. He just really doesn't like Toney at all. :think Although to his credit he did have him winning comfortably close in the second McCallum bout. He also probably gave Floyd Sr. too many rounds against Starling.
For me Toney-Jirov is THE fight that should be used in the examinations at Judges School. Anyone who scores for Jirov is not cut out to be a judge. Anyone who scores for Toney makes the grade. I can easily see why an uneducated eye would think Jirov had won this fight, because of his aggression, pressure and activity levels. But there really can only be one winner. Toney does far less 'work', but his accuracy and elusiveness are superb throughout, and the KD seals the deal pretty indisputably. I thought the actual judges' scorecards were pretty much bang on.
People forget that Lederman got his gig at HBO because of the controversial way he scored Holmes-Spinks. That being said I had Jirov winning going into the last round and thought Toney pulled it out with the KD.
Last time I saw this I had Toney ahead 7-5 or 8-4. The highlight of the fight was when Steward got all giddy when Toney KD'ed Jirov and said "He better pull a Julio Cesar and run across the ring!!!!"
I think I had Toney up by 3 or 4 points when I first watched it. I never re-scored it. If I did, I have a feeling I'd have Toney farther ahead.