Bobby Hunter investigates the controversial scoring that "disgusted" Paul Smith

SOMETIMES you just have to wonder in the world of boxing what goes on inside the head of a professional judge when they produce a card that shows no relevance to the fight they are scoring.

Last night in Kiel, Germany WBO 168lb champion Arthur Abraham and Liverpool’s Paul Smith battled for 12 close rounds. There is no doubt in many rational minds that the fight could have gone either way, but when the ring announcer came up with two tallies of 117-111 and an even worse 119-109 scoreline for the champion, most pundits and fans simply shook their head in disgust. Something stinks here, let’s not mess around. A 9-3 score for Abraham is bad enough, Abraham did not throw enough punches in this fight to win nine rounds. To have him winning 11 rounds, though, illustrates total incompetence.

The three judges for this fight were from the USA, Spain and Hungary. The WBO President Paco Valcarcel tweeted this on Friday “What really improves boxing is more qualified officials and executives.” I’m sorry but 11-1 in rounds in a close fight makes a mockery of that statement. Fernando Laguna of Spain is the offending party here with that awful score. The other two are not much better Mr Waleska for USA and Mr Zoltan Enyedi from Hungary. What is apparent is that the WBO President should be investigating these rotten scores. Eddie Hearn will no doubt appeal and ask for a rematch. He is correct in doing this as his fighter put up the fight of his life; Paul Smith deserved better.

Mr Abraham is a proud champion and let’s be clear here, he didn’t score the fight but should fight Smith again. The 51 media scores attached to this article show that 58 per cent had Arthur Abraham winning. I honestly do not think many people have a problem with the result – it’s the wideness of the final scores. Out of the 51 scores below the average media score was 115-114 Abraham. That’s 51 people scoring a fight from mostly the UK and America, this shows there is no bias when the vast majority had the home fighter winning. Even Smith’s head trainer Joe Gallagher had the fight a draw.

The WBO must consider striking off Mr Laguna from their approved championship official list. That score is just wrong. Personally I am surprised with Mr Enyedi’s score as in the past his scores have been very good. An investigation into the scores is what is being asked here. Let’s hope that happens along with a rematch for Paul Smith. Those scores inflicted boxing with another black eye – we don’t need it as casual fans think boxing is corrupt. What are the new fans to think after seeing THAT in Germany last night?

As usual my full scorecard is below along with the media scores and what percentage of media scored for each fighter.

Bobby Hunter’s Scorecard

Round 1…. 10-9 Smith

Round 2…. 9-10 Abraham

Round 3…. 10-9 Smith

Round 4…. 9-10 Abraham

Round 5…. 9-10 Abraham

Round 6…. 10-9 Smith

Round 7…. 10-9 Smith

Round 8…. 9-10 Abraham

Round 9…. 10-9 Smith

Round 10.. 10-9 Smith

Round 11.. 9-10 Abraham

Round 12.. 9-10 Abraham

TOTAL : 114-114

Average Boxing Media Score (51 in Total):

(115-114 ABRAHAM)

Abraham: 30 Media Scores, (59 per cent)

Smith: 9 Media Scores, (18 per cent)

Draw: 12 Media Scores, (23 per cent)

Boxing Media Scores from Ringside and TV:

Boxing Guru: 115-113 ABRAHAM

Steve Adams Jnr (RingNews24): 116-113 SMITH

Scott Christ (BadLeftHook): 114-114 DRAW

Tom Gray (Ring Magazine): 115-113 SMITH

Daniel Vano (CheckHookBoxing): 115-113 ABRAHAM

Kurt Ward (BoxingAsylum): 115-113 ABRAHAM

FirstClassBoxing: 114-114 DRAW

Shaun Brown (Boxing Monthly): 115-113 ABRAHAM

Jim Watt (Sky TV): 115-113 SMITH (Ringside)

Andy Paterson (BoxingAsylum): 115-113 ABRAHAM

Iconic Boxing: 115-113 SMITH

Corey Quincy (Freelance): 114-114 DRAW

Martin Murray (Sky TV): 114-114 DRAW

Alex Morris (BoxingAsylum): 114-114 DRAW

Nathan Cleverly (Sky TV): 114-114 DRAW

I Edit Boxing: 115-113 SMITH

Fight Ghost: 115-113 ABRAHAM

Ron Lewis (The Times): 115-113 ABRAHAM (Ringside)

Tommy Allan (BoxingAsylum): 114-114 ABRAHAM

Phil D Jay (WorldBoxingNews): 115-113 SMITH

Ciaran Shanks (Irvine Times): 114-114 DRAW

Alex Steedman (BoxNation TV): 115-113 ABRAHAM

Johnny Nelson (Sky TV): 117-116 SMITH (Ringside)

Andy Clarke (BoxNation TV): 115-114 ABRAHAM

Boxingscene: 115-113 ABRAHAM

V2 Boxing: 115-113 SMITH

Graham Houston (Boxing Monthly): 116-112 ABRAHAM

John Hoolan (Freelance): 115-113 ABRAHAM

Andrew McKart (FirstClassBoxing): 115-113 ABRAHAM

KO Radio Online: 114-114 DRAW

Victor M Salazar (Tha Boxing Voice): 114-114 DRAW

Graeme Young (Daily Record): 115-113 ABRAHAM

Paul Daley (TopClassBoxing): 114-114 DRAW

Mark Butcher (BoxingMonthly): 116-113 ABRAHAM

Asian Boxing: 116-112 ABRAHAM

Matt Mojica (The Fight Source): 115-113 ABRAHAM

Nathan Orr (BoxingScene): 115-113 ABRAHAM

Instant Boxing: 115-113 ABRAHAM

Marius Vibe (Freelance): 116-112 ABRAHAM

Irish Boxing: 115-113 ABRAHAM

WildPunchBoxing: 115-113 ABRAHAM

ATR Boxing Tipster: 115-113 ABRAHAM

he Boxing Tribune: 114-114 DRAW

Robert Palmer (CheckHookBoxing): 115-113 ABRAHAM

Rachel Aylett (RingNews24): 116-112 ABRAHAM

John Wharton (Freelance): 115-114 SMITH

Livefight: 116-113 ABRAHAM

Sam Sheppard (The Queensberry Rules): 115-113 ABRAHAM

Kasim Aslam (Global Boxing): 115-113 ABRAHAM

John Evans (Livefight): 115-114 ABRAHAM