Canelo Vs. GGG Fight Ends In Controversy After Going To Scorecards

A huge boxing match just ended in controversy. Go figure.

Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin fought to a draw Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, a reasonable outcome for a closely contested bout that amazingly lived up to its hype. But one judge’s scorecard certainly raised eyebrows, as it leaned heavily in favor of Canelo, who one could argue actually lost the fight.

Here are the scorecards that led to the draw:

Judge Dave Moretti: 115-113 in favor of GGG
Judge Adalaide Byrd: 118-110 for Canelo
Judge Don Trella: 114-114

Here's the official scorecard for tonight's #CaneloGGG fight. pic.twitter.com/2sVE8GVNG0

— Bryan Armen Graham (@BryanAGraham) September 17, 2017

See anything weird?

This was a very close fight, which is reflected in two of the three scorecards. But the third scorecard — Byrd’s apparent brain fart — is an absolute joke. There’s no way on this planet that Canelo won 10 of 12 rounds, even though he did outbox Golovkin in the early going and rallied late after GGG controlled most of the middle rounds.

Still don't understand how Adalaide Byrd managed to score 10 of 12 rounds for Canelo. #GGGvCanelo

— Michael B (@mr_balty) September 17, 2017

I want to see the fight that Judge Adalaide Byrd saw. The fight where Alvarez won 10 of 12 rounds, cuz I missed it. #CaneloGGG

— Keith Burns (@DistrictGntlman) September 17, 2017

Byrd thought Canelo won 10/12 rounds LOL

— Chris Engel (@ChrisEngel24) September 17, 2017

https://twitter.com/NagelsWAttitude/status/909268217859895297

https://twitter.com/RafaelAgostojr/status/909267954143039488

118-110 from Judge Byrd. What person in their right mind saw Canelo win 10 of 12 rounds. His ass need to be fired

— All For One 💵💎🤲🏾 (@BariP229) September 17, 2017

If you watched this fight and saw Canelo win 10/12 rounds, go watch something else. Adalaide Byrd continues to be a disgrace. #CaneloGGG

— JRL (@16jrl16) September 17, 2017

It’s hard to kick up too much of a fuss, seeing as how the end result — a draw — is totally within reason. (We scored it a draw in our live blog.) Plus, there’s a very good chance we’ll get a rematch, and after the show these two fighters put on Saturday night, who doesn’t want to see that?

Yet there’s still something troubling about Byrd’s scorecard. It could have been 115-113 in favor of Canelo, and we’d still be looking at a draw, but at least that would have lined up with what most fans agree actually happened inside the ring: Two fighters battled from wire to wire, each having their moments, to the point where it was difficult to declare a winner.

Even those who thought GGG won the fight — and there are plenty of folks who feel that way — probably would agree the margin was slim. And those who thought Canelo was victorious almost certainly would agree that he didn’t completely overmatch his opponent, especially with GGG being the more aggressive fighter throughout almost the entire bout.

But then again, this is boxing, a sport in which controversy is to be expected nowadays.