Bob Arum Criticized Judge Julie Lederman Following Lopez vs. Lomachenko

Top Rank Boxing’s Bob Arum takes issue with Julie Lederman’s scorecard for Teofimo Lopez vs. Vasiliy Lomachenko.

Lopez and Lomachenko collided in a lightweight title unification bout this past Saturday night, October 17. The action was held inside the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Lopez was awarded the unanimous decision victory.

Many agree that Lopez did indeed deserve the win over Lomachenko but Lederman’s score total left many up in arms. She had Lopez winning the fight 11 rounds to one. This has drawn the ire of most within the boxing community including Arum.

Per Mike Coppinger of The Athletic, Arum advised his fighters to request that Lederman is not appointed for their bouts going forward.

“Lopez won, 7-5 is way I scored it. I can see 8-4, that’s a possibility. But you can’t score it 11 rounds to 1 and say you watched the fight. Ninth, 10th and 11th weren’t close. I would advise any fighter that I have to ask for the commission not to appoint Julie Lederman.”

The other score totals were 116-112 and 117-111. Andre Ward, who served as a color commentator for the fight, scored it a draw at 114-114. Going into the fight, Timothy Bradley predicted that this was Lopez’s time to seize the moment.

Many have credited Lopez’s speed with frustrating Lomachenko early. While “Loma” is known for being a slow starter, he simply didn’t fire off punches until it was too late down the stretch. Lopez’s strong final round also didn’t help matters for Lomachenko.

After the fight, Lopez expressed his belief that he can continue to make the 135-pound limit. With that said, he’s also interested in moving up to the 140-pound division.