A scoring controversy surrounding the boxing match this past weekend between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Gennady “GGG” Golovkin has resulted in a judging change for the upcoming UFC 216 card in Las Vegas.
Judge Adalaide Byrd, who was ridiculed for handing out a 118-110 scorecard in favor of “Canelo” Alvarez, was expected to score fights at the upcoming card headlined by the interim lightweight title fight between Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee.
Now it appears in the wake of the criticism surrounding Byrd’s scoring on Saturday night, she will no longer be working the upcoming UFC card in Las Vegas.
The news was first reported by KLAS in Las Vegas.
Breaking!! Judge Adalaide Byrd has been taken off UFC 216 fight card in Vegas. NSAC says she needs time away to regroup. @8NewsNow
— Chris Maathuis (@sports8) September 18, 2017
Byrd was blasted for her scoring in the fight that ended in a split draw with judge Don Trella scoring the fight 114-114 and judge Dave Moretti giving Golovkin the win by a score of 115-113. No one seems to agree with the lopsided score provided by Byrd, which then forced Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Bob Bennett to address the issue at the post fight press conference on Saturday.
“I’m not going to put her right back in. She’ll still be in the business but she needs to catch her breath,” Bennett said.
“Like in any profession, you have a bad night. Unfortunately, she didn’t do well. I can tell you she conducts training for us, takes judges under her wing, but her score was too wide.”
While there’s no word on when Byrd will be back to judge another combat sports event, it appears she will be taking a break for the time being.
Byrd has come under fire previously for her controversial scoring in boxing and mixed martial arts.
In 2013, Byrd famously scored a lightweight bout 30-27 for Melvin Guillard in a fight where the other two judges unanimously gave the fight 30-27 to his opponent Jamie Varner. She was also criticized for a 30-27 score handed to Carlos Eduardo Rocha in 2011 in a fight that was ultimately won by his opponent Jake Ellenberger with the other two judges unanimously agreeing he was victorious by a score of 29-28 after three rounds.
