Boxing's Worst Decisions of the Year

2009 saw its share of head-scratching judge's scorecards. Here are the five worst decisions of the year.

1) Joan Guzman - Ali Funeka
Result: Majority Draw
Scores: Joseph Pasquale 116-112 (Funeka), Alan Davis 114-114, Benoit Roussel 114-114.
My take: It's impossible to find more than 4 rounds for Guzman and I wouldn't have given him 10 points in that many.

2) Juan Diaz - Paulie Malignaggi I
Result: Unanimous Decision for Diaz
Scores: Gale Van Hoy 118-110, Raul Caiz 115-113, David Sutherland 116-112.
My take: I thought Malignaggi coasted to a comfortable win. It wouldn't have been outrageous to have given Malignaggi a close decision. I just didn't see a way Diaz won, which makes Gale Van Hoy's card all the more preposterous.

3) Sergio Martinez - Kermit Cintron
Result: Majority Draw
Scores: Tom Kaczmarek 116-110 (Martinez), Ged O'Connor 113-113, Peter Trematerra 113-113.
My take: Martinez actually knocked out Cintron at the end of the 7th as referee Frank Santore Jr. counted to 10. But somehow the fight was allowed to continue. In the 12th, a questionable point was taken away from Martinez for hitting behind the head. Even with that point deduction, Martinez should have cruised to an easy decision.

4) Miguel Cotto - Joshua Clottey
Result: Split Decision for Cotto
Scores: Don Trella 116-111, John McKaie 115-112, Tom Miller 113-114.
My take: If Cotto is automatically given every close round, Clottey should have won 114-113. 4 rounds were close and I would have given Clottey two of them, putting the score at 116-111 for Clottey.

5) Carl Froch - Andre Dirrell
Result: Split Decision for Froch
Scores: Massimo Barrovecchio 115-112, Daniel Van de Wiele 115-112, Alejandro Rochin Mapula 113-114.
My take: It was close, no doubt. But Dirrell controlled where and when they fought, even while backing up. His punches appeared to be more effective than Froch's. The only way to give Froch the fight was to privilege simply moving forward above all else.

Honorable mention) Eddie Chambers - Alexander Dimitrenko
Result: Majority Decision for Chambers
Scores: Glenn Feldman 117-109, Fernando Laguna 116-111, Paul Thomas 113-113.
My take: Thankfully, the right guy won. But Chambers so thoroughly dominated the bout, recording a knockdown and a standing eight count against his opponent, it's astonishing that one judge had the fight a tie. In fact, Paul Thomas must have given Dimitrenko more rounds than he did Chambers.