It Wasn’t in the Card: Judge Says He Thought He Had Hearns Winning Fight

The judge whose final-round scoring resulted in the Sugar Ray Leonard-Thomas Hearns fight ending in a draw Monday night says he thought Hearns won the fight.

Dalby Shirley told USA Today on Tuesday that he was not aware until the decision was announced that he had scored the fight 112-112, allowing Leonard to retain his World Boxing Council super middleweight title.

“I had Hearns ahead going into the 11th round,” Shirley said. “I didn’t know how far I had him ahead, but after the 10-8 in the 12th round I still thought that he won the fight. I was kind of surprised that it came out a draw, because I do not keep a running total.”

Judges Tommy Kaczmarek and Jerry Roth both scored the 12th round 10-9 for Leonard.