The Scorecard Treatment: David Tua vs Monte Barrett - Was Two Gunz Robbed?

Watching live this past Saturday night, I didn't have any problems with the decision handed out for the David Tua vs Monte Barrett heavyweight clash.  I didn't keep a running scorecard, but it felt like the type of bout that neither man deserved to lose and the draw verdict (115-111 Tua, 113-113, 113-113) seemed like a fair outcome.

But seeing that at least a few fans are up in arms over the decision on the various forums - feeling that Barrett was a clear winner -  I decided it was worth watching again... so with pen and paper in hand, I gave the heavyweight battle a second, and much more careful look.

Here's my card with an explanation for the scoring of each round...

Round 1

A fairly quite opening round with Barrett jabbing from a distance – usually from too far out to land – and a stalking Tua patiently edging forward. On the few occasions when Tua worked his way into range, he did enough to win the round, landing a couple of glancing left hooks, and a few right hands that included a couple of nice ones to the body.

10-9 Tua

Could this have gone the other way? No. Monte landed a few jabs, but all the meaningful punches were landed by Tua.

Round 2

Barrett had the better of the final two minutes, landing his jab along with a couple of right hands while staying out of trouble – though the good work was not enough to overcome a big opening minute from Tua. Tua landed a couple of solid hooks within the first 30 seconds of the round, and a little later on drove Barrett into the ropes with a big flurry of punishing power shots that had the New York fighter holding on. While enough to win the round, the barrage seemed to take some energy from Tua and he failed to generate any offense for the remainder of the session.

10-9 Tua

Could this have gone the other way? No. While Barrett won the majority of the round, he clearly did not land any of the better shots.

A point not related to scoring, but worth brings up… During an early exchange, there was also a clash of heads which Barrett brought to the attention of referee Randy Neumann. While plenty of fighters would have taken the opportunity to crack the momentarily distracted Barrett with another hook, Tua sportingly waited until his opponent had said his piece before resuming pursuit.

20-18 Tua after two.

Round 3

Though Barrett had a slight edge over the second half of the round, the better work was clearly done during the first half by Tua. Tua landed several hooks in those opening 90 seconds and though none were particularly damaging, they were the most significant punches of the round.

10-9 Tua

Could this round have gone the other way? Even though commentators Bob Sheridan and Benny Ricardo gave the round to Monte, it’s really hard to see how he had an edge. Winning the last minute does not equal winning the whole round.

30-27 Tua after three.

Round 4

A dominant round for Tua. He started strong and finished strong, landing a number of punishing power shots over the course of the 3 minutes that clearly bothered Barrett.

10-9 Tua

Could this round have been scored another way? If judges were encouraged to score more 10-8 rounds, this one might have been a candidate. It didn’t quite stray into that territory though, so 10-9 will suffice.

40-36 Tua through four.

Round 5

Barrett finished strongly, landing some nice right hands late in the round that included a good uppercut with his back to the ropes and a couple more just before the bell. But as with a couple of the earlier rounds, the good work late was not enough to overcome Tua’s early lead – and the first two minutes clearly belonged to the heavy handed visiting fighter.

10-9 Tua

Could this round have been scored the other way? We’ve all seen fighters flurry late to successfully "steal" rounds they were behind in – so it wouldn’t be a surprise if Barrett got the nod with his late push. Did he do enough though? Not in my opinion, but he made it close enough that I wouldn’t argue too hard with anyone that scored it for Monte. For the record, Sheridan and Ricardo did score it for Monte. They both have Tua up by only a 3-2 tally at this stage… which is VERY generous to Barrett.

50-45 for Tua.

Round 6

Tua’s showing signs of slowing down, but thanks to some good body work over the first half of the round, he earned the nod in what was a fairly close and uneventful session. Barrett landed a decent right hand with about 30 seconds left in the round, but aside from a few tame jabs in retreat, he didn’t do enough to match Tua’s clean shots to the midsection.

10-9 Tua

Could this round have been scored another way? Not unless hard body punches don’t count. The commentators again had it for Barrett, but their reasoning has to be questioned. When discussing his score, Sheridan talk about whether Tua has done enough – as if the onus is on Tua to clearly distance himself from Barrett in order to take the round. It was a slow round and Tua didn’t do a whole lot… but Barrett did next to nothing and it feels like he’s getting extra points for being a sizable underdog that hasn’t been blasted out.

Thoughts at the mid-way point:

This card has Tua up 60-54, while the commentary team have the bout even. Perhaps I’m not giving Barrett enough credit for his jabs, but I think a 3-3 scorecard is a little bit crazy. Unless one is using amateur scoring criteria where a pecking jab is worth the same as a hook to the midsection, there is just NO WAY that David Tua isn’t clearly winning.

Round 7

Easily Barrett’s best round of the fight so far. He comfortably stayed out of a tiring Tua’s range, while steadily peppering his pursuer with not only jabs, but some solid right hands. He landed a couple of these rights to the body in the first minute, and over the course of the round managed to land some upstairs as well.

10-9 Barrett

Could this round have been scored for the other way? No, he did almost nothing. One the rare occasion when Tua did manage to get inside, he was quickly tied up.

69-64 Tua through seven.

Round 8

After a couple extra viewings, I scored this round for Barrett by the slimmest of margins. He had a slight edge over the first two minutes, landing the occasional shot from long range while Tua pursued without much luck. Barrett then landed a pretty nice combination, scoring with a 1-2 and following it up with a left hook with just over 30 seconds to go.  The lead almost slipped away down the stretch, when Tua hammered home a couple of punishing late body shots, but it wasn’t quite enough though to turn the tables.

10-9 Barrett

Could this round have been scored the other way? I’m one of those crazy judges that score even rounds when there’s nothing to choose from (it beats guessing), and I very nearly handed out a 10-10 for this session. It was very tight. An argument could also be made for Tua, if one thinks his body shots – he landed more than just the two late ones - were damaging enough to override Barrett’s more consistent work.

78-74 Tua through eight.

Round 9

Barrett did very little, while Tua easily won the round on the strength of several good body shots. He also landed a right hand late that seemed to bother Barrett.

10-9 Tua

Could this round have gone the other way? No.

88-83 Tua through nine.

Round 10

Barrett broke open a close round with a big final 60 seconds, landing several hard right hands to Tua’s head - not only backing his sturdy opponent off, but doing some real damage with a couple shots that landed behind Tua’s ear. The strong finish was easily enough to overcome the edge Tua had earned with a few decent hooks to the body earlier in the session.

10-9 Barrett

Could this round have been scored the other way? I don’t think so, but Sheridan felt this was a tough round to score and called it even. That seems a little bizarre since he had no trouble handing Barrett earlier rounds in which Monte did nothing in. Perhaps always giving the fighter that’s trailing – and the commentary team had Tua down going into the round - the benefit of the doubt is one of those old broadcasting tricks meant to keep the viewer interested.

97-93 through ten for Tua.

Round 11

Tua didn’t do a whole lot, but he landed the only meaningful punches of the round. He scored with a couple of right hands in the first minute and a couple of left hooks over the final 60 seconds, while not much happened in between. Perhaps saving his energy for the final round, Barrett boxed very cautiously, flicking jabs from a safe distance while moving constantly.

10-9 Tua

Could this round have been scored for Barrett? No. There were very few meaningful punches landed, but all came from the gloves of Tua.

107-102 though eleven for Tua.

Round 12

Though he lost a point for throwing - to be fair, it was more of a shrug than a throw - Barrett to the canvas mid-way though the round, Tua was having much the better of the final three minutes when Barrett shockingly dropped him.  Tua was trying to press his advantage with Barrett's back to the ropes, when Monte countered with a pair of right hands, the second one catching Tua behind the ear and sending him to the canvas.  With just over 30 seconds left in the round when the action resumed, Barrett looked like he had a chance to score a knockout - or at the very least drop Tua again - but instead sat back and let the remaining time tick away.

10-7 Barrett

Could this round have been scored another way?  Had the knockdown been of the flash variety, one could make a good argument that the round should have been 10-8 (10-9 plus the foul deduction), but Tua was clearly hurt by the shot that dropped him, so 10-7 is really the only score possible here.

Final Score

114-112 for David Tua

There weren't many rounds that could have gone either way.  I had Tua winning 7 clear rounds to Barrett's 3.  The tightest round of the fight was the eighth and that went to Barrett on this card.  Give that to Tua, and he's got a nice comfortable 115-111 win.  The only round scored for Tua that possibly could have gone to Barrett was the fifth - a round Monte closed strongly in.  Give that round to Barrett, and it's 113-113.  That's the best case scenario for Barrett, and he's fortunate two of the judges saw it that way.

In case you're wondering, Bob Sheridan and Benny Ricardo had Barrett winning by 3 and 4 points respectively.

Closing Thoughts...

Scoring aside, this was a tremendous effort from Monte Barrett.  In a fight that very few people gave him a chance to even finish, let alone win, he not only made it through to the final bell but very nearly pulled off a remarkable come from behind victory.  The late knockdown was absolutely stunning - seeing David Tua on the canvas will go down as one of the most memorable boxing moments of the year.  It gave Barrett the draw on the cards, and after three straight losses, allowed him to walk away from his fighting career on a positive note.

e-mail Andrew Fruman