Scoring continues to be a controversial topic in boxing, and the apparently often subjective nature is something heavyweight Jared Anderson wants put under the spotlight.
Anderson has been branded ‘the heir to the throne’ of the top division by current champion Tyson Fury, and may just be looking to use any future influence to hold officials accountable for how they decide who has his or her hand raised.
The 24-year-old took to social media recently calling for mandatory interviews for judges after fights.
“I think it should be mandatory judges do interviews after fights … I wanna see why a couple people score how they score.”
I think it should be mandatory judges do interviews after fights lol I wanna see why a couple people score how they score😂😂
— Jared BigBaby🍼 Anderson (@TeamBigBabyy) November 22, 2023
Whilst Anderson’s stance has been widely supported, it’s more from a spectator’s point of view given the hard-hitting heavyweight has only made it the distance once in his 16-fight professional career.
That came against former heavyweight world champion Charles Martin, who was in-form and chin-checked the aggressive Anderson, providing valuable rounds but ultimately losing to the younger man unanimously.
Should he add some more decision wins to his record, Anderson wants to see judges held accountable – something that has been suggested frequently, particularly after controversial results of which there are still too many.
Fighters often find themselves boxing comfortably only to be told after the final bell that one or two rounds the other way could have changed the result completely.
Whilst WBC judges haven’t been put in front of the media, the sanctioning body has introduced ‘open scoring’, used in some championship bouts such as Badou Jack’s cruiserweight triumph over Ilunga Makabu.
With the system in place, the corners are informed of the judges’ scores after the fourth and eighth rounds and can adjust their game-plan accordingly.
And yet the 10-point system and conclusions reached still throw up controversy throughout the calendar year, with fans only having to look back to Sandy Ryan-Jessica McCaskill this year or Josh Taylor-Jack Catterall in 2022 to find questionable results.