The DC Boxing and Wrestling Commission is conducting an investigation into a bizarre scorecard turned in by judge Lloyd Scaife following Saturday’s heavyweight bout between Luis Ortiz and Tony Thompson at the DC Armory in Washington, D.C., RingTV.com has learned.
The bout was stopped at 2:29 of the sixth round when Ortiz clipped Thompson’s right ear, knocking him down for the third time. For the highly-touted Ortiz (25-0, 22 knockouts), it was the latest highlight in his march to a possible title shot as Thompson, a DC product, may have fought for the last time. But it was Scaife’s peculiar scoring of the previous five rounds in a nationally-televised bout on HBO that has caused concern at the commission, a source said.
Scaife, a local judge from the DC area, gave new meaning to the term “hometown judging” with his tallies. Among his peculiar findings, he scored the third round 10-9 for Thompson even though it was a round in which Ortiz knocked Thompson down. The other two judges, Tammye Jenkins and Paul Wallace both scored the third round 10-8 for Ortiz.
Scaife scored the first round 10-9 in favor of Ortiz even though Ortiz knocked Thompson down and otherwise dominated his opponent in the round. Jenkins and Wallace both scored the first round 10-8 for Ortiz. Scaife also scored the fifth round 10-9 for Thompson, even though both Jenkins and Wallace scored the round 10-9 for Ortiz, who seemed to clearly win the round. At the time of the stoppage, Jenkins and Wallace both had Ortiz ahead 50-43, while Scaife had Ortiz leading Thompson, who was fighting in his hometown, by just a point, 48-47.
The commission will likely release a statement on Friday describing its findings and whether Scaife will be disciplined. “Everyone is trying to figure out just what happened,” the source said.
The unusual scoring darkened an otherwise cheery mood for Ortiz’s camp, who studied a copy of Scaife’s scorecard early Sunday morning at a restaurant in their hotel with bewilderment. “Good thing it didn’t have to go to thescorecards,” said Jay Jimenez, Ortiz’s manager.
