Why It’s No Longer Crazy To Think Incompetent Judging Can Impact Mayweather-McGregor
By: Sean Crose

Picture, if you will, Las Vegas abuzz with screaming Irish fans and intense American fan boy love. The subject of all this wild admiration? One Conor McGregor. Now picture, if you will, McGregor doing more than anyone expected him to do against Floyd Mayweather. The Irishman is aggressive beyond aggressive for twelve straight rounds, displaying great heart and better than expected endurance. Sure, Mayweather clearly gets the better him, but McGregor impresses by virtue of not being humiliated.

Now imagine the judges being taken away by the wave of that aforementioned ecstatic Irish and American fan boy love. Imagine them giving the decision win to McGregor…even though it’s clear for those who know boxing that Mayweather carried the night. Sound impossible? After this past weekend, I respectfully disagree. I find it to be entirely possible. Why? Because there’s a lot of incompetent judging out there these days. If it’s not at epidemic level, it’s clearly alarming. For one thing, crowds matter, and the T-Mobile arena will be a temple of McGregor worship on August 26th.

Also, perhaps equally alarming, many judges appear to no longer understand that aggression is not the same as effective aggression. In other words, a good percentage of judges rule unprofessionally, if not all the time, then often enough. Keep in mind that Mayweather-McGregor is a pop culture event. When people ask me about it on the street, I find I’m at a loss for words. I’m a boxing writer, not a member of the staff of a big entertainment site. Those who are intrigued by Mayweather-McGregor are apt not to know much about how boxing is scored. Therefore, they’re apt to think McGregor wins if he performs like a poor man’s Marcos’ Maidana. And, again, they’re apt to influence the judges – who may, for who knows what reason, have one again forgotten what effective aggression is to begin with.

So, will everyone be in an uproar on August 27th, the day after the Mayweather-McGregor Pop Culture Event Of The Summer? I wouldn’t have written this after Pacquiao-Horn and the Bounce TV brouhaha the night before, but now I wouldn’t be too surprised if incompetent judging proved to be McGregor’s secret weapon. Think it’s unlikely? You’re probably right. But I don’t think it’s as unlikely as you believe. Remember this – all McGregor has to do is stay on his feet and defy expectations and all bets might be off after the final bell. In other words, all the Irishman may have to do to win is look good. That won’t be easy, but it’s a lot easier than winning fairly.

Of course, I’ll be watching Cotto-Kamegai on the 26th of August. It’s a far better matchup than Floyd-Conor. And besides, bad judging isn’t as painful when it doesn’t become an international incident.

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