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Anyone who watched Luis Ortiz vs. Tony Thompson would be hard-pressed to tell you the fight way anything other than a one-sided beating. Ortiz dropped Thompson three times in under six rounds to score a KO win, but apparently that's not how one judge saw it, which inevitably raised some eyebrows with the the D.C. Boxing and Wrestling Commission who will now be investigating judge Lloyd Scaife.
Of particular concern was that Scaife, a local D.C. judge, gave Tony Thompson, also a D.C. local, about every benefit of the doubt one could hope for from a hometown judge. What blatantly stood out was that Scaife scored the third round 10-9 for Thompson, despite Ortiz dropping Thompson during the round and otherwise winning it very clearly. I scored the round 10-8 for Ortiz while doing live coverage for BLH, along with the two other official judges Tammye Jenkins and Paul Wallace.
Additionally, Scaife scored the first round 10-9 for Ortiz, who scored a knockdown in that round as well. Apparently that wasn't enough for Scaife to give Ortiz his deserved two point margin (considering that he clearly won the opening round as well). We at BLH had that round 10-8 for Ortiz, along with the other two official judges.
Finally, Scaife scored the fifth round 10-9 for Thompson, in a round that was pretty deprived of any significant action. BLH scored that round 10-9 for Ortiz, as did the other two official judges. But when the fight ended in the very next round, judges Jenkins and Wallace both had Ortiz up on the cards 50-43 (as did BLH) but with Scaife having Ortiz winning by only one point, 48-47. Just another instance of terrible scoring in a sport that doesn't need any more of it. There was just no way Thompson was ever that close in the fight.
"Good thing it didn't have to go to the scorecards," said Jay Jimenez, the manager for Ortiz.
The D.C. commission has released a statement saying that they are trying to figure out what happened with Scaife's scorecard, and whether or not he will be disciplined.