The streaming platform Netflix is making moves to become a major player in the live sports streaming market, and the service took a huge step in that direction Saturday when it carried the historic Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Terence “Bud” Crawford fight live from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
The fight reached 41.4 million viewers globally, according to numbers released by the streaming service, with 36.6 million watching all 12 rounds of the main event on the five-hour card featuring three preliminary bouts streamed by Netflix.
And, while there’s been no survey of what those 41.1 million people thought of the superfight, the general consensus appears to be that Crawford was the clear winner in a victory over the most highly regarded opponent he’d ever met in the ring — a younger, bigger opponent — raising his record to 42-0, sending him back to the top of the pound-for-pound world rankings and most importantly, establishing Crawford’s legacy as the greatest fighter of his generation, and one of the best ever to lace up the gloves.
But it almost didn’t turn out that way — and not through any fault of Crawford’s.
Judges Saw Fight Closer Than Viewers
According to the official judges’ scorecards for the fight, leaked by UFC.com and posted online by All The Smoke Boxing, two of the three judges scored the fight as a draw through the first 10 rounds, meaning that Crawford needed to win both of the “championship rounds” — that is, the 11th and 12th — to claim the fight.
That scoring did not line up with many other observers and unofficial judges. For example, the Britain-based Independent newspaper had the fight six rounds to four, or 96-94 in the 10-point “must” scoring system — in Crawford’s favor.
Boxing writer Andrew Hale of ESPN.com saw the first 10 rounds as more one-sided, scoring eight rounds for Crawford to just two for Alvarez — a score of 98-92. In other words, on the ESPN scorecard, Alvarez needed a knockout to win the fight at that point.
Consensus for Crawford After 10 Was Clear
The Athletic assigned three staff writers to score the fight. After 10 rounds, one of the Athletic scribes agreed with official judges Tim Cheetam and Max De Luca in seeing the score tied 95-95, or five rounds apiece.
But the other two writers for the New York Times-owned site had Crawford leading 97-93 (seven rounds to three) and 96-94 (six to four in rounds).
Former boxer Skipper Kelp, who served as the unofficial scorer on the Netflix live stream of the fight, saw the first 10 rounds for Crawford 97-93 (seven to three in rounds).
Then, of course there was our own live scorecard. In real time, Heavy.com saw the first 10 rounds the same as ESPN‘s Hale — 98-92, or eight rounds to two, for Crawford.
Fans React to Official Scoring
Official ringside judge Steve Weisfeld had the fight six rounds to four, 96-94, for Crawford through 10. But all official judges, as well as the unofficial ones, scored both of the final two rounds for Crawford. That gave the 37-year-old Crawford — who turns 38 on September 28 — a unanimous decision victory.
Fans who commented on the All the Smoke Boxing post could not believe the tied scorecards after 10 rounds on two official scorecards.
“Score should have been 118-110 Canelo only won 1 round and maybe 1 more was close. They had to cook the numbers to protect Canelo’s legacy,” wrote one responder, in a comment typical of the fans’ thoughts.
“According the scorecards of some corrupt a** judges,” wrote another. “Bud almost lost the fight that we clearly saw him dominate. I wanna fight a judge so bad.”
Canelo vs. Crawford: Leaked Judges’ Scorecards Tell Surprising Story