C.J. Ross Defends Judging Floyd Mayweather & Canelo Alvarez Fight A Draw

C.J. Ross’ scorecard at the end of the boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Canelo Alvarez tallied up to a 114-114 draw, which made her the only judge not to declare Mayweather the definite winner. Despite ample criticism and backlash regarding her judgment of the fight, Ross has refused to issue a new score.

“I stand behind my decision,” Ross told TMZ. The veteran judge believes that she has reached the right decision and is unmoved by those who are calling for her head. Ross displayed similar resolve back in 2012 when she was bashed for finding that Timothy Bradley bested Manny Pacquiao, giving Bradley a split-decision victory. A review of the fight by five judges ultimately gave Pacquiao a unanimous victory.

Mayweather’s performance in the ring on Sunday evening neared perfection, according to boxing experts and casual fans of the sport alike. While Ross decided the match was a draw, judges Dave Moretti and Craig Metcalfe scored it in Mayweather’s favor – 116-122 and 117-111, respectively. Mayweather, whose record stands at 45-0 with 26 KOs, has only failed to get marked down for something other than a win once before when he was awarded a split decision victory against Oscar De La Hoya in 2007.

Due to her checkered past and what many believed was Mayweather’s obvious victory, Ross’s knowledge of the sport and potential dirty dealings are being called into question on Twitter. Among those who weighed in were Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield.

“The sport has a problem. It has a problem with judging,” boxing expert Teddy Atlas said on ESPN Sunday night. “It can only be one of two things: Incompetence or outright corruption, nothing else.

As of now, Ross’ job appears to be secure. NSAC executive director Keith Kizer has stated that he takes no issue with the judge’s decision. “Just because a judge’s scorecard ends up even, doesn’t mean the judge necessarily thought the fight as a whole was even,” Kizer told USA TODAY Sports. “It could be that a judge has six rounds for each fighter, but the six rounds she gave fighter A, she gave them to him easily, and the six rounds she gave fighter B, they were really close rounds. That’s pretty much how it was last night.”

– Chelsea Regan

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