A Masterclass in Judging from a Master

I had the opportunity last weekend to attend a professional boxing judge training run by Steve Weisfeld.   Weisfeld is a NJ Hall of Fame judge who has judged over 2500 professional fights.  Most recently he judged the last Amanda Serrano fight, the Stevenson vs. De Los Santos fight and the Benavidez vs. Andrade fight.  It was an intense and powerful training and I came away with a new understanding of what it means to be a high quality judge.  The biggest takeaway for me was that you MUST be fair to both fighters.  That means judging each round individually, not favoring a boxer because they are a champion or have the crowd behind them or have a style you like, but truly looking for who throws the most clean, effective punches.  Weisfeld taught us that we must have a mental computer running where you know who is winning and by how much at every second of the round.  He notes that different people have different methods, but that is the name of the game.  As he states in the above video, "our allegiance is to the round."  In order to improve focus Weisfeld gave two gems of advice that I had never heard of before.  First, he told us to "Be Less Selfish."  The fight is about the two fighters in the ring.  You owe it to them to give the fight your full attention. Secondly, he told us that the best state of mind when judging is to be a little excited.  He says if we are too calm, we might miss something and if we are too excited, it's really hard to focus.  I had always assumed  it was important to be calm, but Weisfeld argues that we must be immersed in the action and create our own excitement to maintain serious focus on the fight.  Being a boxing judge is a second profession, not a hobby he states.  You may not make a living from being a judge, but we have the boxers' livelihoods in our hands and our decisions can impact the path their careers take tremendously.  

In the training we were challenged to score what Weisfeld called atypical rounds.  These were rounds that are especially hard to judge due to being extremely close or having other attributes that make them challenging to judge.  Weisfeld notes that most rounds have a clear winner.  He noted that in 2022 only 5% of fights ended in a split decision.  That was surprising to hear, but also good to hear.  Weisfeld carefully selected rounds that were instructive and as a group we discussed the rounds and then found out what the actual scores were and what Weisfeld felt were reasonable scores.  My understanding of judging is pretty solid, but this really helped me understand the importance of being focused and decisive in your decisions.   

At the beginning of the training Weisfeld asked us each to reflect on what brought us to being a boxing judge.  For me, I know that now is my time to give back to the sport that gave me so much, but I can't help but acknowledge the pain and loss of confidence that came from some of the decisions had on my career.  I was a fight anyone, anywhere type of fighter and I definitely lost some of my fights especially those at the end of my career.  But of the 5 World Title fights I had, I truly felt I won all of them. They were each in 5 different countries and I received a majority decision, a draw, a split decision, a loss and a win.  The loss was in North Korea, so that explains that.   Only one of those fights was in the U.S. and that was my win.  It is what it is, but it is a big motivation for me to get better at judging.  I know I still need to work on honing my focus when it comes to judging, but I do take each bout I judge seriously and I will continue to strive to do right by both fighters.  I am grateful I had this opportunity at taking a masterclass from a truly masterful judge and teacher.  Thanks Steve Weisfeld!