Crawford’s Ringside Coaching: The Key to Shakur’s Controversial Win Over Zepeda?

Terence Crawford was feeding WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs) with advice at ringside throughout his 12-round fight against William Zepeda (33-1, 27 KOs) last Saturday night at the Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York.

Ring Magazine showed how Crawford, a close friend of Stevenson, was near the ring, shouting instructions during his fight against Zepeda. Although Shakur did ultimately win a twelve-round unanimous decision, he appeared to be at risk of losing through the first eight rounds. Bud may have seen how desperate his friend’s situation was, so he shouted coaching advice.

Why were judges’ scores wide?

Many fans were shocked and disgusted by the wide scores by the judges in favor of Shakur. They scored it 118-110, 118-110, and 119-109. The scoring failed to show how competitive the fight was. Zepeda outworked Shakur in every round.

The wide scoring by the judges painted a picture of a one-sided fight in favor of the champion, Shakur. From the way the judges scored it, it gave the impression that Zepeda wasn’t in the fight. That was a false picture of how the contest played out.

In all twelve rounds, Zepeda was more active and aggressive, appearing to sweep the entire fight. The way he fought through the first nine rounds makes the wide scoring by the judges bizarre. Their scores didn’t reflect how Zepeda was getting the better of Shakur.

The high punch output, landed body punches, and aggression by ‘Camaron’ Zepeda were ignored by the judges. They favored Shakur’s occasional counters. The counters were far fewer. Stevenson’s counters didn’t match the high number of shots he was getting hit with to the body by Zepeda.

How Was the Fight Truly Scored?

I watched the fight and had Zepeda winning every round by a shutout. Constant punches from the challenger were hitting Shakur. The punches were landing on the chest and midsection of Shakur, forcing him to shell up during the nonstop bombardments. The scorecards for the judges should have been 120-108 in favor of Zepeda.