Daylight Robbery: Sandy Ryan Denied In Florida
Boxing is incredibly difficult to understand at times and even harder to defend. Robbery is an overused phrase in boxing, but overnight in Florida, Sandy Ryan was the victim of daylight robbery as she was denied a rightful victory over Jessica McCaskill in their fight for the unified world welterweight titles. The three scoring judges somehow came up with a split-draw which in no way reflected what most observers saw.
The fight wasn’t even close and is undoubtedly one of the worst decisions of recent times, and trust me, that is saying something.
Mark Streisand rendered a quite unbelievable card of 97-93 for McCaskill, which was simply astonishing and defied belief. Mike Ross had a much more realistic card of 96-94 for Ryan, but it still looked a little close, but at least Ross had the right fighter winning. But when Barry Lindenman couldn’t split the two fighters with his 95-95 scorecard, Ryan knew she would be leaving Florida without any kind of justice. I’m not sure robbery even covers what we saw. Lindenman was the only judge who gave the last round to Ryan, if he hadn’t, Ryan would have lost.
The American had her moments, but that was all she had. Ryan dominated most of the exchanges and most of the rounds. The WBO bauble holder was sharper throughout and looked a clear winner after ten good rounds. What looked like a formality turned into something more.
I had the Derby fighter up 97-93, and there seemed little doubt at the final bell that Ryan would have her hand raised soon after. But boxing found a way to deny her. The scoring was a disgrace and nothing can defend it. Nothing.
Hopefully, for Ryan, the talk of a rematch post-fight doesn’t fade away with the passing of time. A rematch is the least that she deserves.
Photo Credit: Ed Mulholland/Matchroom/ Melina Pizano
FightPost: Boxing & MMA News 