In case you needed more proof on just how close George Kambosos’ momentous win was yesterday, here it is.
The unfancied Australian, who came into the fight a heavy underdog, knocked Teofimo Lopez down in the first round and survived being knocked down in the 10th round before winning on a split decision from the judges.
Kambosos won 115-111, 113-114, 115-112 on the judges’ cards to claim the WBA, WBO, and IBF belts in a Madison Square Garden’s that was almost entirely behind home-favorite Lopez.
However, two of the judges scores for the first round has raised eyebrows as the cards were revealed following the bout.
READ MORE: Tim Paine announces leave of absence from all forms of cricket
READ MORE: The taunt that made LeBron eject fans mid-game
READ MORE: Ricciardo left Renault because he was ‘afraid’ of team’s future
Generally a knockdown in boxing results in a 10-8 score in favour of the fighter who drops the opponent.
But Kambosos wasn’t awarded that score after flooring Lopez in the opening frame. Two of the judges, Glenn Feldman and Don Trella, gave the round to Kambosos only 10-9.
https://twitter.com/ryansongalia/status/1464820999996776449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/MattClarkBoxing/status/1464836054498754560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Furthermore, all three judges awarded the tenth round 10-8 in Lopez’s favour after the American scored a knockdown of his own.
Veteran boxing journalist Dan Rafael explained the reasoning behind the call.
“Lopez had dominated round 1 other than the knockdown. They elected to score 10-9 because of that,” he wrote on Twitter.
“I thought about it but made it 10-8. But it is a reasonable score for that round given how one-sided it was other than the knockdown.”
In the end, Trella scored the fight in favour of Lopez by one round, while Frank Lombardi and Feldman had Kambosos Jr four and three rounds up respectively.
All three judges agreed that Kambosos Jr won the first half of the fight, with Lopez coming home strong.
Feldman has drawn heavy criticism in the past, most notably for his decision to award Keith Thurman victory over Manny Pacquiao in 2019.
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!