Question for people who score 10-8 rounds without a knockdown

A little defensive there, IB.

I wasn't specifically referring to you.

I've seen lots of folks in the RBR threads cite 'close' or 'very close.'

And I certainly never stated (nor implied) that anyone just shrugged and flipped a coin.
The shortcomings of the present system are present even with honest, best efforts from the judges.

Many rounds are just close or very close and that's all there is to it.

And even with the best of intentions, and the most incisive judgment, some rounds are just too close to call.


There are a good many rounds that are clear to everyone as to who prevailed, but there are probably more where it's in dispute.

If you rustle up a few sets of scorecards where we have all three judges verdicts on a round by round basis, I'm guessing that there will be fewer rounds where all three judges agree than rounds where the verdict is split.

And those guys are 'experts' who do this all the time.

In a very close round, there is no right answer and a degree of arbitrariness is necessarily involved.
This could be reduced by requiring unanimity, assuming every judge is on the level.



In an earlier thread some years back, I suggested (half jokingly) that we don't need judges.

The fight could continue until one fighter couldn't.

 

Interested in this scoring stuff

I personally feel like there are a lot of even rounds that if I had to score it one way or the other I'd just be doing it based on a personal bias, rather than setting that happened in the round

I agree with the sentiment that scoring very even round 10-9 can result in dodgy final scores. I understand the convention is to only score 10-10 very rarely, by my question would be why?

If there's barely anything in it what's the actual downside to scoring 10-10 more regularly?

 

Only if the ropes were holding you up.

 

AJ Usyk Round 12 was a good example of a debate for a 10-8 round with no knockdown. Usyk dominated with 29-9 punches landed including 23-8 in power punches. AJ was left barely able to defend himself as the bell rung. In a way this would have been more likely to have been scored 10-8 within the first six rounds where there would have been some shock value attached. By the final round it was quite predictable, I don't think I've seen anyone score it 10-8.

 

I'm always hesitant to score 10-8 no knockdowns unless the 8 fighter is obviously hurt, hit far too much, and throws almost nothing back for the 3 minutes. Part of the reason being that judges rarely do it so it obviously won't be reflected on the official scorecards.

10-7 with one knockdown is even tougher. Has this ever been scored by an official judge?
One example I can think of that would fit is Usyk-Hunter round 12 where Hunter was being absolutely battered and only got a standing-8 when he should have been stopped. None of the judges saw it that way.