As I've alluded to in another thread, the correlation of nationality and judges' scorecards is pretty amazing. Here are 1980's title fights. In the interest of space, I'll omit fights with nothing unusual to report: Jan 20: Arguello (Nicaragua) vs. Castillo (USA). The Nicaraguan judge has Arguello ahead; the American judge has Castillo ahead. Only one-point margins. Not too noteworthy. Jan 22: Pedroza vs. Nemoto. Unanimous for Pedroza, but not for a lack of trying. The Panamanian judge has Pedroza winning by 10 points; the Japanese judge has Nemoto within a point. Feb 1: Orono (Venezuela) vs. Lee (Korea). Split decision; the two South American judges vote for Orono; the Korean judge votes for Lee. March 2: Espana (Venezuela) vs. Kenty (USA). The Latin judge (Ismael Fernandez of Puerto Rico) has Espana up at the time of the stoppage; the American judges have Kenty up. March 16: Antuofermo (USA) vs. Minter (England). The neutral judge (Venezuela) had Antuofermo up by 2. The American judge had Minter winning by 3. The English judge had Minter up by twelve points, giving Antuofermo one of fifteen rounds. April 3: Lujan (Panama) vs. Isogami (Japan). Although none of the judges gave Isogami a round prior to the stoppage, the Japanese judge found a way to score five of the rounds even, having Isogami trailing by only three points after eight rounds (the other judges had the margin at 8 and 5 points). April 3: Serrano (Puerto Rico) vs. Kazama (Japan). Unanimous for Serrano; the Puerto Rican judge had Serrano up by 7; the Japanese judge had Kazama within a point. The neutral judge (South Africa) had Serrano by 6. April 6: Cuevas (Mexico) vs. Volbrecht (South Africa). Another minor one, like the Arguello fight in January. The Latin judge (Panama) had Cuevas up by a point; the judges from the USA had Volbrecht by a point. May 18: Park (Korea) vs. Oguma (Japan). Oguma up on all cards at the time of the stoppage, but he was up by 4 and 5 points on the cards from the Japanese and Philippine judges, while the Korean judge had Park within a point. June 11: Pintor (Mexico) vs. Murata (Japan). Classic example. Split decision draw - the Mexican judge gave it to Pintor by 5, the Japanese judge gave it to Murata by 2, and the neutral judge had it even. June 21: Sanchez (Mexico) vs. Lopez (USA). The American judge had Sanchez by 3 at the time of the stoppage; a Mexican judge had Sanchez by 7. However, a second Mexican judge had Sanchez by 3 as well. July 20: Pedroza (Panama) vs. Kim (Korea). The Venezuelan and Panamanian judges had Pedroza up by 7 and 6 points, respectively, at the time of the stoppage; the Korean judge had Kim within 3 points. July 28: Oguma (Japan) vs. Kim (Korea). The one Korean judge had Kim up by 3 points (giving Oguma one round out of 15); the Japanese judge had Oguma up by 2. The American judge also had Oguma up, by 3. July 28: Orono (Venezuela) vs. Jensen (USA). Majority draw. All judges were Latin American; one of the three was from Venezuela, and he had Orono winning. The other two weren't, and didn't. August 4: Zapata (Panama) vs. Melendez (Dominican Republic). Two judges were from neutral countries and had Zapata up by 6; Panama's Umberto Figueroa had Zapata up by 9. August 22: Gomez (Puerto Rico) vs. Holmes (USA). A minor one, stopped in the 5th of a fight that Gomez was clearly winning. Nevertheless, two judges had Holmes winning two rounds; the Puerto Rican judge gave him one. August 29: Lujan (Panama) vs. Solis (Puerto Rico). The Panamanian judge had Lujan winning by 4; the Puerto Rican judge had Solis winning by 2. The neutral judge had Solis by 1. September 13: Sanchez (Mexico) vs. Ford (Guyana). One Mexican judge had it a draw, and the neutral judge had Sanchez up by 4. The other Mexican judge had Sanchez by 9. October 4: Pedroza (Panama) vs. Lockridge (USA). The Panamanian judge had Pedroza winning by 10; the American judge had Lockridge up by 2. The South African judge broke the tie for Pedroza, by 6. October 12: Gushiken (Japan) vs. Flores (Mexico). Unanimous for Gushiken. The American and Japanese judges had him up by 6 and 4, respectively; the Mexican judge had Flores within a point. October 18: Oguma (Japan) vs. Park (Korea). The Japanese judge voted for Oguma, by a point; the Korean judge voted for Park, by 4. The English judge had Oguma up 1, as well. November 1: Watt (Scotland) vs. O'Grady (USA). The American judge had O'Grady within a point at the time of the 12-round TKO. The European judges (France and England) had it for Watt by 4 points. November 14: Solis (Puerto Rico) vs. Chandler (USA). The American judge had Chandler up by 10 points at the time of the TKO (round 14). The Puerto Rican judge had Solis within a single point. The neutral judge (Panama) had Chandler by 7. November 20: Uehara (Japan) vs. Hernandez (Venezuela). One of my favorites. The Japanese judge has Uehara by 3, giving Hernandez a single round out of 15. The Venezuelan judge has Hernandez winning by 7, giving Uehara two rounds out of 15. The Korean judge had Uehara by 2 (scoring 11 rounds even. No, he didn't work Leonard-Duran I). November 25: Hope (England) vs. Herrera (Argentina). Hope won a UD, by three points on the English and American cards; the Argentinian judge had Herrera within a point. December 1: Zapata (Panama) vs. Becerra (Venezuela). The Panamanian judge had Zapata by 3; the Venezuelan judge had it a draw. The neutral judge (USA) had Zapata by 1. December 11: Limon (Mexico) vs. Bethelmy (Venezuela). 15th round TKO. After 14, Limon was up by 7 and 8 points. The Venezuelan judge had Bethelmy down by just a point. December 13: Kim (Korea) vs. Mathebula (South Africa). All three judges are American, but only James Jen Kim is (I believe) Korean American. He scores it for Kim by 4 points; the other two name Mathebula the winner. December 13: Gomez (Puerto Rico) vs. Cervantes (Colombia). Third-round stoppage. Two judges (Puerto Rico and USA) gave Gomez the first two rounds; the Colombian judge gave one to Cervantes. December 19: Pintor (Mexico) vs. Davila (USA). The American judge scored it a draw; the Mexican judge had it for Pintor (by a point). The other judge, from Venezuela, also scored it for Pintor (by 4). Conclusion: If you expect a close fight, check where the judges are from before placing your bet.
