Even veteran ring announcer Michael Buffer could not hide his embarrassment. Officials rectified a 115-115 scorecard to hand the Pole a decisive 115-112 third card and the undeserved victory in Bethlehem.
The consensus amongst fans on social media sites and through forums was that Cunningham came through the entertaining twelve-round battle with a closely-fought points win, which mirrored my card of 115-113 to the American.
Although Tom Miller gave ‘ USS’ that score, Debra Barnes and Dave Greer’s cards ultimately saw the fight. Adamek’s way to the neutral and Cunningham fans’ disbelief and has once again opened a debate for an overhaul of judging.
High-profile scoring mishaps, as in the Pacquiao v Marquez III and Pacquiao v Bradley bouts in the past year or so, have already caused an uproar in the sport – although poor scoring seems to be widespread and is beginning to make a mockery of some great battles.
The WBC is moving closer to introducing an electronic scoring system after running several tests over the past few months, but this still has room for human error. Scoring based on successful punches landed would be more of a step in the right direction.
Let’s hope it is not too long in coming.
