WBA suspends Estrada vs. Chocolatito judge after wide score

WBA President Gilberto Mendoza has temporarily suspended judge Carlos Sucre after questionable score card of Juan Francisco Estrada vs. Roman Gonzalez. 

The March 13 rematch between Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez was an instant classic mired in controversy due to a ridiculous scorecard.

Bad judging in boxing is unfortunately somewhat common, but the World Boxing Association (WBA) is apparently doing something about it.

Estrada and Gonzalez fought once before in 2012, and Gonzalez won by unanimous decision. Things were certainly closer the second time around, but Gonzalez appeared to best Estrada based on public opinion and the CompuBox punch stats. Gonzalez threw 105 more punches and landed 77 more than Estrada, according to CompuBox stats.

However, the judges named Estrada, the winner by split decision. It was a close fight, but one card didn’t represent the epic battle’s competitive spirit waged from the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

One judge scored the bout 115-113 for Gonzalez, while another had it 115-113 for Estrada. It’s judge Carlos Sucre who enraged the boxing world with a ludicrous score of 117-111 for Estrada. It’s a score that most see as obscene.

Juan Francisco Estrada vs. Roman Gonzalez was a close fight, but 117-111 was far off the mark.

The fans at the fight voiced their displeasure, as did boxing fans over social media. Numerous boxing websites pointed out Sucre’s poor scoring, FanSided included.

In the early afternoon on Sunday, March 14, WBA president, Gilberto Mendoza, issued a statement on Twitter in Spanish and English announcing that the WBA temporarily suspended judge Sucre.

“I ratify the temporary suspension of official Carlos Sucre, who scored 117-111 in favor of @GalloEstradaOfi,” read Mendoza’s Tweet. “I do not take away merits to the champion but in close fights such a wide difference is intolerable. I don’t call it a robbery but it’s wrong.”

There was another message echoing Mendoza’s message on the WBA’s Twitter feed.

Gonzalez held the WBA super flyweight belt heading into his rematch with Estrada, who held the division’s WBC title. Estrada now holds both belts, but this excellent fight is forever tainted with Sucre’s inadequate score.

https://twitter.com/DAZNBoxing/status/1370985648321130496?s=20

The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which sanctions combat sporting events, has yet to take action against Sucre.

Sucre has been a boxing judge since 1984 and has a long history with the WBA. It’s hard to tell what impact this will have on Sucre’s career as a boxing judge. He’s definitely not the first judge to have an awful scorecard, but the spotlight is now on him for all the wrong reasons.