Judging Hall of Shame Adds Inductee

Good News: Boxing went five entire weeks, in the year of our lord 2024, without egregious shameful judging.

Bad News: PBC’s inaugural PPV on Amazon Prime frantically made up for lost time.

Tim Cheatham

Cheatham, whose last name clarifies that robbing fighters of victories is his birthright, scores the dubious honor of judging shamefully twice in one night.

First in the Julio Cesar Martinez of Mexico (21-3, 15 KOs) bout against Angelino Cordova of Venezuela (18-1-1, 12 KOs).

He then he struck again just three fights later in Tim Tszyu of Australia (24-1, 17 KOs) vs Sebastian Fundora of Coachella, California (21-1-1, 13 KOs).

Readers of the debut “Shame That Judge!” column may recall that Cheatham –

– pictured here sending back soup to the restaurant kitchen – just barely escaped shame for his judging of Teofimo Lopez of Brooklyn, New York (20-1, 13 KOs) vs Jamaine Ortiz of Worcester, Massachusetts (17-2-1, 8 KOs).

Well, congrats Tim, no more JV for you, you finally made Varsity.

Cheatham scored Martinez vs Cordova 113-113, a draw.

And he’s not wrong that it was a mostly close fight… except for one variable.

Martinez knocked Cordova down twice in the third round. That means despite the two knockdowns, Cheatham wants us to believe Cordova still won seven out of twelve rounds. Spoiler: Cordova did not.

Or perhaps Cheatham just cannot calculate basic arithmetic?

That actually seemed to be going around Saturday night. Unofficial judge Joe Goossen had the same problem, scoring the third round 10-8 instead of 10-7.

(I’ll let Goossen off the hook this time. He did a great job on commentary, and the 10-8 was corrected to 10-7 later in the broadcast. Whether the mistake was caught by Goossen or someone else remains unknown).

Max DeLuca and David Hudson both scored the fight 114-112 for Martinez, which is a little better (I scored it for Martinez 115-111).

One might say “well, at least it went to the right guy.” But boxing fans have gotten too used to hearing “at least it went to the right guy.”

“At least it went to the right guy” is not an acceptable justification for a judge being bad at their job.

Cheatham’s Martinez/Cordova score, however, merely announced his candidacy for this entry of “Shame That Judge!”

Tim was just getting warmed up. The Tszyu/Fundora scorecard was Cheatham’s pièce de résistance.

Tim Cheatham scored Tszyu/Fundora 116-112 for Tim Tszyu.

How in the world could anyone score the main event 116-112 for Tim Tszyu? That score just has no basis in reality!

As the fight progressed, referee Harvey Dock and the ringside physician examined Tim Tszyu, but let the fight continue to the final bell. Photo: Esther Lin, Premier Boxing Champions

The only acceptable explanation is Cheatham watched an alternate universe version of the fight where the second round did not end with Tszyu receiving an enormous gash on the top of his head that effectively blinded him for the rest of the fight.

A cut by the way that seemingly everyone on the planet knew how to treat except for the people actually in Tszyu’s corner; check out my new column Shame That Cutman!, coming soon to NYFights.com!

SHAME ON YOU, TIM CHEATHAM!

Which eight rounds would you have us believe Tim Tszyu won?

The rounds you made up on your own don’t count.

For context, the other two judges, Steve Weisfeld and David Sutherland scored it for Fundora 116-112 and 115-113 respectively (I scored it for Fundora 117-111).

Cheatham deserves, and has earned, a spotlight for being very bad at his job.

He was thwarted by competent judging on this particular Saturday, but if he is allowed to continue judging at an elite level – and, obviously, he will be – he has the potential to ruin a boxer’s career, legacy, and life.

Yes, bad judging is that serious.

And right now the only consequence Cheatham faces for his utter incompetence is more opportunities to continue failing upward. SHAME!

Moving on to…

Chris Flores

Chris Flores –

– pictured here telling investigators “Boys will be boys, officer, we were just horsing around” – is stunningly worthless at his job.

The only plausible excuse for Flores’ Rolly/Pitbull score is that he was trying to impress Tim Cheatham.

Watching Rolando “Rolly” Romero of Las Vegas (15-2, 13 KOs) against Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz of Mexico (26-2, 18 KOs) was like watching a game of cat and mouse, but if the cat was Godzilla and the mouse was a cold cup of coffee with pieces of tree bark in it.

It was not a competitive fight.

Thankfully Cruz won by TKO so he does not have to have his legacy tarnished by Flores with a bogus Split Decision.

At the time of stoppage, Judges Max DeLuca and Patricia Morse Jarman had it scored 69-63 and 68-64 respectively, both for Cruz. Chris Flores scored it 66-65 for Romero.

A 66-65 Romero score is preposterous for two reasons:

What was Romero doing that impressed Flores so much?

Some judges favor the aggressor. Cruz was the aggressor from beginning to end.

Some judges favor defense. Romero’s defense strategy was to block punches with his body and face.

Some judges favor ring generalship. Cruz was the general on Saturday night.

The closest Rolly got to “general” was an ambulance to General Hospital.

Isaac Cruz made Rolly Romero pay for all the trash talk leading up to their fight Saturday. Photo: Esther Lin, Premier Boxing Champions

Cruz beat up Rolly so badly that, in a post-fight interview, a clearly dazed and confused Romero mumbled it was Easter and he’d be resurrected like Jesus Christ.

Even more astonishing, the majority of #Boxing Twitter understood Rolly was not in his right mind, and let it go!

Do you have any idea how dire something must be for #Boxing Twitter to actually show real authentic genuine sensitivity?

Meanwhile Cruz was so sharp and clear-headed after the fight, he looked like he could deliver a dissertation on the invention of the microchip to everyone seated ringside.

SHAME ON YOU, CHRIS FLORES. No case can be made for Rolly winning this fight.

What arcane nonsense math was Flores using to come up with a 66-65 score for Romero?

Before the stoppage in the 8th, seven rounds were scored. There were no knockdowns.

The only variable was referee Thomas Taylor deducting a point from Romero in the 5th for holding.

Taking the point deduction into consideration, DeLuca’s 69-63 score means Cruz lost one round, Romero lost six.

Jarman’s 68-64 score means Cruz lost two rounds, Romero lost five.

Chris Flores’ 66-65 score, and again taking the point deduction into consideration, means…

Romero lost three rounds, Cruz lost five?!

Was there a secret round only Flores saw?

Did Flores actually find Rolly so dominating in one round that, despite no knockdown, he scored it 10-8 for Rolly?

Perhaps Flores thought Thomas Taylor’s point deduction was an invitation to deduct points willy nilly from either of the fighters?

SHAME ON YOU, CHRIS FLORES.

You judge with the competence of a conman smart enough to think of falsifying a timecard, but too dumb to add up the fraudulent hours correctly.

You are a danger to the integrity of boxing, and you do not deserve your job.

SHAME!

Tim Tszyu got out to an early lead on the scorecards. Photo: Esther Lin, Premier Boxing Champions

Hall Of Shame 2024 (NEVER FORGET)

Steve Weisfeld (2/8/24) – Teofimo Lopez vs Jamaine Ortiz (117-111 Lopez)

Dr. Lou Moret (2/16/24) – Joseph Diaz Jr vs Jesus Perez (99-90 Perez)

Tim Cheatham (3/30/24) Julio Cesar Martinez vs Angelino Cordova (113-113)

Chris Flores (3/30/24) Rolando Romero vs Isaac Cruz (at time of stoppage, 66-65 Romero)

Tim Cheatham (3/30/24) Tim Tszyu vs Sebastian Fundora (116-112 Tszyu)