Martinez and Burgos fight to a draw: Example of bad judging

Saturday night, Feb. 19, Ramon “Rocky” Martinez (26-1-2) and Juan Carlos Burgos (30-1-1) fought to a draw for Martinez’s WBO super featherweight title. The bout was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City and was televised on HBO.

Importantly, it must be noted that Burgos put on an impressive performance in this bout that probably should have gotten him a wide margin victory. However, it seemed the ringside judges had other thoughts in mind as they scored the fight a draw.

In the fight, Burgos landed viscous body shots that would have had most super featherweights hitting the canvas. Though, Martinez had his moments in the middle rounds he never could land any punches of significance and seemed to be outworked by Burgos.

For Martinez, the draw allows him to maintain his WBO featherweight title and should provide him with the opportunity to fight a notable name within his weight class.

Yet, from a marketing perspective, if Martinez is going to become an attraction within his Puerto Rican fan base then he must put on an impressive performance in his next encounter.

On the other hand, Burgos gained a lot of credibility in this fight as he showed the boxing world that he should be considered a prominent contender at 130 pounds. Thus, it is likely that Burgos will get another significant fight opportunity towards a significant payday.

In the end, the bout showed that the boxing world should keep an eye on Burgos within the super featherweight division. Negatively, viewers were given an example of the problems that lie within the sport in regards to the proper judging of fights as it seemed Burgos should have been given a unanimous decision victory.