De La Hoya agreed with Byrd’s winner, though was surprised by the margin (Picture: Getty)
De La Hoya agreed with Byrd’s winner, though was surprised by the margin (Picture: Getty)

Oscar De La Hoya has defended Adelaide Byrd after the judge controversially scored Gennady Golovkin’s title fight with Canelo Alvarez 118-110 in favour of the Mexican.

Saturday’s bout at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas ended in a split-draw, resulting in boos from the crowd, with the 35-year-old Triple G appearing to have done more than enough to win the fight.

But Byrd, who is known for being rather unpredictable with her scoring, only gave two of the 12 rounds to Golovkin, prompting jeers in the arena when the scorecard was announced and ridicule on social media.

The split-draw provoked gasps and boos from the crowd, souring the night (Picture: Handout)

And while De La Hoya, whose Golden Boy promotions represent Canelo, was surprised by the margin of the Byrd’s decision, he defended her competency despite immediate calls for her to be suspended.

Speaking at the post-fight press conference, he said: ‘A lot of people are not understanding 118-110, just like myself. That’s the bottom line.

‘But I have to say Byrd is a competent judge, she’s been doing lots of world titles for many years.

Golovkin retains his four middleweight titles and is likely to face Canelo in a rematch (Picture: Getty)

‘But 118-110 is, OK, yes it is, and I can understand 115-113, 114-114, but personally I had it 7-5 to Canelo.

‘And people can argue, it could have gone either way because it was such a good fight, probably one of the best fights we’ve seen in recent years. These guys fought their hearts out.

Triple G landed more punches, but Canelo’s blows were more eye-catching (Picture: Getty)

‘Gennady is a tremendous champion, and Canelo is a tremendous champion, and everyone has their opinion, and that is what made it such a great fight.

‘And I do feel bad for Byrd for taking a lot of heat now, 118-110, that’s a pretty wide spread.

‘This is boxing, like I said she’s a very competent judge and has been judging for very many years and Las Vegas is one of the best commissions in the world.

‘I personally felt that boxing won today. It was a win-win-win for everybody. We needed a fight like this between Triple G and Canelo.’

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