The Night the Boxing Judges Took the Spotlight

The Night the Boxing Judges Took the Spotlight

After 10 rounds of solid action, Colombia’s Dionisio “Mister Nocaut” Miranda (18-3-2 heading in)—a cousin of Edison Miranda– beat talented Canadian Sebastien “Double Trouble” Demers (25-1) in Demer’s hometown of Montreal, Canada. Televised on ESPN, the fight was held on Aug. 1, 2008.

Demers (pictured) used his jab effectively, landed more punches and was busier throughout, but Miranda landed the cleaner and more effective shots, particularly when he connected with his big right hand. As analyst Teddy Atlas said, it was the quality of the Colombian’s punches versus the quantity of Demer’s, even though Teddy gave the edge to Demers 95-94.

This writer had the fight a draw, but the judges had it 95-94, 95-94 and 94-95 giving Mr. Nocaut (his spelling) a SD and the IBF International middleweight title and vacant NABA middleweight title. A knockdown of Demers in round nine counted heavily in giving Miranda the final edge in scoring. All in all, it was a fan-friendly fight, but wait, that’s not the real story here.

The two judges who gave the fight to Miranda were Benoit Roussel and Pasquale Procopio, both from Canada. No ‘home cooking’ there—to borrow a Teddy Atlas phrase.

The judge who scored the fight 95-94 in favor of Demers was Joseph Pasquale from New Jersey.

Say what?

On a night when home cooking seemed destined to be served, these fine judges went against the grain. They remained focused and objective, and did their job as professionals. The fact is, this one should be used as a training film on how to judge a fight, for on this steamy night at the Gare Windsor Salle des Pas Perdus in Montreal Quebec, Canada, the judges got it right.

 Making this outcome even sweeter, both New Jersey’s Pasquale and Quebec’s Roussel are close friends of mine. Roussel recently worked the Crawford vs. Brook fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. He also did the Ruiz vs. Joshua “redemption” bout in Saudi Arabia. Pasquale judged the Hart vs. Smith affair in Atlantic City and is in constant demand.

Pasquale Procopio was born in Italy but calls Montreal his home. Like the other two, he is a respected and seasoned judge. In 2019, he worked the Ruiz ambush of Joshua at Madison Square Garden.

Unfortunately for 38-year-old “Mr. Nocaut,” he has reached his Peter Principle, having lost his last 11. He is now 22-19-2. “Double Trouble” finished in 2013 with an admirable slate of 31-6 that included stiff opposition and wins over Matt Vanda and William Joppy.

Ted Sares can be reached at tedsares@roadrunner.com

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