Terence Crawford recorded a stoppage victory in the 10th round of his welterweight title bout with Shawn Porter in Las Vegas last night, but according to the judges' scorecards, he was well on his way to a unanimous decision victory anyway.
Crawford was ahead on the official scorecard at the time of the stoppage, with every judge having it in his favour, which was the first time that Porter had been stopped in his career.
Unfortunately enough for Showtime, that is how he'll end his career as well after he announced that he's retiring from boxing in his post-fight press conference.
All three judges were American with the fight taking place between two American athletes. Dave Moretti and Steve Weisfeld had identical scorecards, both adjudging Crawford to be winning at the end of the ninth round with a score of 86-85. Max De Luca had also had Crawford leading, but with a score of 87-85.
The Full Judges' Scorecards
All three judges scored the first seven rounds identically.
They gave the first round to Porter, but a response from Crawford meant that he took the second. Showtime regained control to take the third, before losing the fourth and winning the fifth.
Crawford became the first fighter in the bout to take consecutive rounds, as he was adjudged to have won both the sixth and seventh rounds.
Max De Luca awarded Crawford with the eighth round, but both other judges gave it to Porter. All three judges gave the ninth round to Crawford. This meant that Max De Luca gave Crawford the win in four consecutive rounds from the sixth to the ninth, with the eighth round being the only difference in the trio’s cards.
In the end, the scorecard wasn’t needed, as Porter’s father withdrew his son from the fight in the 10th round.
Porter seemed annoyed at himself, as he slammed his fist against the canvas while he lay on the floor, after being knocked down for the second time in the same round.
After the fight, to rub salt into the wounds, Porter's father was rather harsh on him during the post-fight interview, accusing him of not preparing correctly for the fight.
Tough love from your own old man!