The CompuBox statistics from Wednesday’s women’s bantamweight title fight and rematch between Miyo Yoshida and Shurretta Metcalf “clearly do not support the judges’ controversial 10-round unanimous decision in favor of Metcalf,” stated a press release sent to BoxingScene on Friday by Sullivan Management.
In an awkward, difficult-to-score fight featuring clashing styles, Metcalf was awarded the unanimous decision at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City by scores of 99-91, 97-93 and 96-94, which the release described as “dubious” while citing the name of each judge with their respective scorecard.
“The right outcome appeared clear – both in the surprise reactions of Metcalf’s corner and also the thunderous objection from the crowd,” the release continued. ”As the scores were read, immediate objections [rained] down through the arena as Yoshida and many ringsiders looked stunned.”
The right fighter sometimes still wins a “controversial” decision, and fighters, their teams and their fans often react harshly to reasonable outcomes. Additionally, CompuBox statistics are a tool to better understand fights but do not factor into official scoring – and in some cases do not support a fairly rendered result.
That said, Sullivan Management – which, if you hadn’t learned by now, represents Yoshida – raises some interesting points.
More from the press release: “Yoshida finished the fight ahead 96-64 overall, 49-17 in jabs, 30-16 in body punches and 8-0-2 in a round-to-round breakdown of total connects.”
It also cited the announcers on the ProBox TV broadcast calling the 99-91 score “absurd” and noted that Hall of Fame boxing writer Thomas Hauser wrote for www.tss.ib.tv that “Shurretta threw wild punches from long range all night. When she landed, it seemed almost by accident. The decision could have gone either way. I thought each fighter clearly won three rounds with four rounds up for grabs. 97-93 was a stretch. 99-91 reeked of being an agenda-driven scorecard.”
Said Yoshida’s manager, Keith Sullivan: “It is hard not to question the accuracy of the scoring. A 7-3 score is a disturbingly extreme stretch. The 9-1 score turned a world championship fight into a tragic farce. This was a disservice to the sport.”
It could be argued that Yoshida came by the belt via equally controversial means, if not more so, after Metcalf beat her by unanimous decision last November – but it was Yoshida, not Metcalf, who was awarded an immediate title shot a month later, taking the title from Ebanie Bridges.
“It was an honor to once again share the ring with Shuretta,” Yoshida said after the fight. “I felt I did more than enough to win the fight, and I don’t understand why the judge’s awarded my opponent for throwing wild punches that never landed and the few that did, had no effect.”
In any case, the level of discontentment around the first two Yoshida-Metcalf fights are likely to ensure a third, which the champion agreed to – “if the money’s right” – immediately after Wednesday’s fight.
Never a dull moment in boxing.
Jason Langendorf is the former Boxing Editor of ESPN.com, has contributed to Ringside Seat and the Queensberry Rules, and has written about boxing for Vice, The Guardian, Chicago Sun-Times and other publications. A member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, he can be followed on X and LinkedIn, and emailed at [email protected].
Read the full article here
