By Jody Kohn
Robert Hoyle has judged hundreds of fights all over the world since he started back in 2000. Like all judges who have worked for any amount of time, he has scored a fight or two that a fighter or fans may have disagreed with. But overall, he has managed to keep his name clean, not too often finding himself in the cross hairs of irate fans who believe that a fighter got screwed in a particular fight as a result of poor scoring by the appointed judges. His score of a 114-114 draw in Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Manny Pacquiao III is the one that most often comes up with dissenters.
So it made sense to get the thoughts of the long serving judge about what appears to be a rash of poor decisions that have plagued the sport as of late. The Floyd Mayweather vs. Canelo Alvarez and Brian Vera vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. fights are of course the two that have received the lion’s share of attention for not only their ridiculousness, but also for the appearance of possible shady dealings going on behind the scenes.
Hoyle gives his thoughts on those decisions and also discusses the actual process of becoming a judge. Furthermore, he gives his suggestions of what can be done to improve judging.
Finally, there has been a lot of people suggesting that perhaps former fighters would make the best judges. He discusses their potential involvement, stating he would certainly welcome them into their ranks.
Hoyle will next be seen this weekend as one of the judges for the Tim Bradley vs. Juan Manuel Marquez fight taking place in Las Vegas, NV.
