Controversial Judge Explains Scorecard For Charlo vs. Castano

The judge who scored Jermell Charlo vs. Brian Castano 117-111 in favor of the former is speaking out on his thought process.

Charlo vs. Castano was an undisputed junior-middleweight title fight. Going into the fight, Charlo held the WBA, WBC, IBF, and The Ring gold, while Castano was the WBO Champion. After 12 thrilling rounds of action, the score totals were read. The final result was a split draw. While a draw wasn’t deemed egregious, Vazquez’s score total was.

Speaking to The Gondol, Vazquez explained his 117-111 score in favor of Charlo (h/t Boxing News 24).

“It was a close fight, but in the sense that there were a lot of close rounds. And that is always a matter of appreciation. A judge can see an assault in one way and another in another.”

Judge Steve Weisfield also caught some flak for his 10-8 score in favor of Charlo for the 10th round despite the fact that Castano wasn’t knocked down. Vazquez said he doesn’t agree with that score.

“I didn’t think I should hit 10-8 because, in the first part of the round, Castano had landed a lot of punches as well.”

Many have pointed out the fact that Castano outlanded Charlo according to CompuBox numbers. Vazquez responded with the following.

“It’s business as usual, quantity versus power.”

The boxing world is now left to hope a rematch will take place. Charlo vs. Castano ended up being Showtime’s most-watched live boxing event since December 2019. This does not include Showtime PPVs.

In a recent statement on social media, Jermell Charlo said he expects to have a rematch with Castano at some point.

“Brian Castano is one hell of a better fighter than anyone gave him credit for and he came to fight for his life Saturday. If fights are scored as a whole I landed the harder and better shots, but boxing isn’t scored that way. Boxing is scored round by round. I’ve always said to take a belt from a champion you need to take that belt and the judges felt neither of us did enough to take those other belts and they ruled a draw.

“I don’t want to become undisputed by a narrow controversial decision. I want to make a statement. I didn’t do my part to get the KO and as always I will continue to learn and improve. When we run it back, just like I adjusted in Harrison II, there will be no doubt about the result.”