It’s probably scant consolation to boxer Gennady Golovkin, but Saturday’s (September 16) controversial fight with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez wasn’t the first tarnished by the grubby mitts, shaking pencil and skewed vision (and logic) of Nevada State Athletic Commission judge Adalaide Byrd.
There have been many more examples of her incompetence, both in boxing and mixed martial arts, and Golovkin can be safe in the knowledge his victory over Alvarez, taken away from him by Byrd’s incompetence, is nothing personal. It’s not him, it’s her.
Here, for the benefit of GGG and those in positions of power, are some of Adalaide Byrd’s facepalm-worthy moments in MMA, starting with the most recent and going back ten years.
Derrick Lewis SD Roy Nelson (July 7, 2016)
The Byrd’s Eye View: Byrd had Nelson winning 29-28, while Dave Hagen and Glen Trowbridge had it the other way. The difference, Byrd felt, was that Nelson won round two. Only he didn’t. Thankfully, sanity prevailed and Lewis got the decision.
Albert Tumenov SD Lorenz Larkin (January 2, 2016)
The Byrd’s Eye View: Byrd had Larkin winning 29-28, but Derek Cleary and Kamijo Junichiro saw Tumenov as the man more deserving of a 29-28 scorecard.
Michinori Tanaka SD Joe Soto (January 2, 2016)
The Byrd’s Eye View: Byrd had Soto beating Tanaka 29-28. Chris Lee and Tony Weeks, though, posted the same score for Tanaka, who took the split-decision victory.
Zubaira Tukhugov SD Phillipe Nover (December 10, 2015)
The Byrd’s Eye View: Byrd somehow had Nover winning 29-28 when Dave Hagen and Roy Silbert, watching the same fight, saw it as a 30-27 victory for Tukhugov.
Dustin Ortiz SD Justin Scoggins (July 6, 2014)
The Byrd’s Eye View: Byrd gave it to Scoggins by a score of 29-28, whereas Sal D’Amato and Chris Lee saw it the same way but for Ortiz.
Jamie Varner SD Melvin Guillard (December 29, 2012)
The Byrd’s Eye View: Byrd must’ve fallen asleep for this one. There can be no other excuse for seeing it as a 30-27 win for Guillard when Cecil Peoples and Mark Smith had the same score for Varner. A shocker.
Jake Ellenberger SD Carlos Eduardo Rocha (February 5, 2011)
The Byrd’s Eye View: Byrd believed Rocha had won easily, a 30-27 landslide no less, when the truth, according to the other judges, Abe Belardo and Junichiro Kamijo, was a 29-28 win for Ellenberger.
Leonard Garcia SD Nam Phan (December 4, 2010)
The Byrd’s Eye View: In what was considered the fight and robbery of the year, Byrd had Garcia winning (by a score of 29-28) a war many felt Phan won. Unfortunately, rivalling Byrd’s incompetence that night was Tony Weeks, who also saw it 29-28 to Garcia, cancelling out Junichiro Jamijo’s correct score of 30-27 for Phan. A rematch, less than a year later, sorted out the mess (Phan took a unanimous decision).
Clay Guida SD Marcus Aurélio (August 25, 2007)
The Byrd’s Eye View: Another crazy one. Byrd felt Aurélio had done enough to win the fight via a score of 29-28. Wise old heads Jeff Collins and Patricia Morse Jarman, meanwhile, saw it as a 30-27 victory for Guida.
Feel any better, Gennady?
