10-8 round for Maidana in rounds 1 and 9

Nope. You can score a 10-8 round if a fighter clearly dominates.

An example is Khan-Maidana round 10 where 2 judges scored the round 10-8 correctly. (Only the infamous C J Ross had it a 10-9 round)

 

You thought wrong.

You can score a 10-8 without either of those conditions; however it should be used sparingly only in extreme cases where it's called for like the even 10-10 round. :good

People often misuse the "sheer dominance/brutality" 10-8 just as they do the "too hard to split" 10-10, whether due to laziness or having ulterior motives like rooting for or against one boxer.

Theoretically, both should be available (but again, rare) tools for an objective scorer.