Interesting fight, which I watched a couple months back. I had Minter starting very strong and sweeping almost all the early rounds, then Vito started ramping it up in his effective if artless way. I had the fight dead even going into the 15th, and Antuofermo had all the momentum. I give Minter a lot of credit though, he manned up and took the 15th, winning the fight then by a measure of eight rounds to seven.
I had it all on the last round also. Minter took it by a point on my card. Really need to watch this again.
I had it 8-5-2 for Antuofermo in rounds and don't forget the 2 point round in the 14th for Vito's knockdown. I personally don't feel that was a knockdown but it was scored that way officially so what can you do? On the 10 point must system with the 14th scored a 10-8 round my total comes to 145-141 Antuofermo. scartissue
I believe an official does when instructed so. When I was an amateur judge, the amateur rules gave us flexibility to countermand the ref's instruction if we disagreed and to deduct a point if he missed something. However, I don't believe the professional rules give us that flexibility. Perhaps I'm wrong. Does anyone have a clear knowledge of the rules in this matter? If I can ignore the ref's instructions in this matter, then I do because I don't feel it was a knockdown but a half-push. Vito was having an excellent round so it was a 10-9. Funny, now that I think about it, wasn't Roland Dakin's scorecard something like a 14-1 or something like that for Minter? Did he agree that Vito won the round but not give him the extra point or am I wrong about his scorecard? Scartissue
I think knockdowns have to counted officially by a judge, but point deductions from the referee do not have to be followed by the judge. Just what I THINK is the rules, not definite.
The referee doesn't instruct the judges to do anything in those issues. The exception to that is when he's deducting a point for a foul, you have to follow his instructions then, but he doesn't direct the judges to take an extra point for a knockdown.
To me this is one of the hardest fights to score. I have scored it several times with different outcomes. I agree Minter took some of the early rounds and Antuofermo came on later, but there were many rounds (sorry I don't have any of my cards at hand..if at all???) that were very close and could swing either way...I seldom score even rounds, if I can avoid it and that is a differnece in some fans and judges. The fight was scored: Minker: 144-141 for Minter 9-6 Dakin 149-137 for Minter 13-1-1 (seems way out order, not sure what he saw???) Sanchez 145-143 for Antuofermo 7-5-3 I could see it scored either way, by a round or 2 (Dakin's card baffles me)....but avery close fight with multiple rounds that were seperated by avery little. Antuofermo does some nice body work and unless dakin and others don't give that it's due is the only explanation I can see for a wide Minter win. One of my favorite fights, and unfortunately gets little play on ESB...good thread Edit: Not sure how the judges scored the KD...I have seen their final scores but not round by round to know if any or all scored it 10-8 or 10-9 or other
Here's a pretty good write-up on the fight from boxrec. The only point I take to task is that the knockdown is mentioned as being in the 8th round. I'm positive it was in the 14th. Scartissue 1980-03-16 : Alan Minter 159¾lbs beat Vito Antuofermo 158¼lbs by SD in round 15 of 15 Location: Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Referee: Carlos Padilla Judge: Chuck Minker 144-141 Judge: Roland Dakin 149-137 Judge: Ladislao Sanchez 143-145 WBA & WBC Middleweight Fights "The fight was a contrast in styles, with Minter, a classic standup boxer, using right jabs to keep Antuofermo at bay. But he couldn't do so all the time and the Italian-born mauler lowered his head and rushed in, frequently driving Minter to the ropes. The two fighters, both known as heavy bleeders, suffered cuts over their eyes but the bout was remarkably free of blood. Antuofermo, 158 1/4, put the left-handed Minter down in the 8th round with a left hook and right to the body. Minter, 159 3/4, scrambled quickly to his feet and apparently was not hurt. Minter, aided by a lopsided score by a British judge, took the title from Antuofermo by a split decision in a 15 round nationally televised fight from Caesar's Palace. The British judge, Roland Dakin, scored the fight 149-137 for Minter. Judge Charles Minker of Las Vegas scored it 144-141 for Minter, while judge Ladislao Sanchez of Venezuela scored it 145-143 for Antuofermo. The AP also had it 145-143 for Antuofermo. The decision was at odds with the scoring of many ringsiders. An informal poll of 17 writers covering the fight showed 10 scoring for Antuofermo, 5 for Minter and 2 scoring it a draw." -Associated Press Post fight comments "When they said 'split decision,' and then 'Minter,' it was unbelievable. If they had said 'Antuofermo,' I might have had a heart attack." -Alan Minter "I thought for sure I won. This fight, they gave it to him. I wasn't wrong, your judge was wrong. They should suspend both these judges." -Vito Antuofermo "He was blind. He was a prejudicial judge. You can quote me on that too." -Roy Tennison, Executive Secretary of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, on Roland Dakin's scorecard.