Unanimous decision explained

A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighter won the match.[1]

In boxing, each of the three judges keeps score (round by round) of which fighter they feel is winning (and losing). This only includes landed blows to the head or the body. In MMA, judges look for different criteria such as kicks, take-downs, punches, knees, elbows, cage control, submission attempts, and aggression.[2] A decision is not required to be unanimous for a boxer or mixed martial artist to be given a victory. In the modern era of Olympic boxing, UD is utilized more often than other outcomes, including stoppages.[3] Unanimous decision should not be confused with a majority decision or split decision.

History

In the early days of combat fighting, winners were determined only when one party was unable to continue the fight.[4] The National Sporting Club started to promote professional glove fighting. It introduced the use of officials and their capacity to declare the winner of a fight. Officials began using a scoring system to determine the winner of the fight, and this made unanimous decisions a logical outcome.

Any combat sports decision has the potential to be overturned. Some reasons for this may include counting errors, misdeclaration, and retroactive disqualification due to rule violations. There has never been a unanimous decision overturned.

Notable unanimous decisions

Date
WinnerOpponentNotes
March 8, 1971Joe FrazierMuhammad AliFor WBA, WBC, and vacant The Ring heavyweight titles
January 28, 1974Muhammad AliJoe FrazierRetained NABF heavyweight title
March 7, 1987Mike TysonJames SmithRetained WBC heavyweight title;Won WBA heavyweight title;Heavyweight unification series
June 11, 2009Georges St-PierreThiago AlvesDefended the UFC Welterweight Championship.
May 2, 2015Floyd Mayweather JrManny PacquiaoRetained WBA (Unified), WBC, and The Ring welterweight titles;Won WBO welterweight title
February 8, 2020Jon JonesDominick ReyesDefended the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.

Controversial unanimous decisions

Controversial unanimous decisions!Date!Winner!Opponent!Notes
December 5, 1947Joe LouisJoe WalcottScores were split in favor of Louis: 6–7, 8–6, 9–6.[5]
April 10, 2010B.J. PennFrankie EdgarLost the UFC Lightweight Championship.[6]
February 4, 2012Carlos ConditNick DiazWon the interim UFC Welterweight Championship.
July 2, 2017Jeff HornManny PacquiaoLost WBO welterweight title
February 12, 2023Islam MakhachevAlexander VolkanovskiRetained UFC lightweight Championship.[7]

Notable athletes

Boxing

MMA

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Decision - BoxRec. 11 March 2023.
  2. Web site: Unified Rules - Learn the Rules of MMA C.O.M.M.A.N.D.. 2021-05-01. mmareferee.com.
  3. Nelson. Murry. 2005. Sports History as a Vehicle for Social and Cultural Understanding in American History. The Social Studies. 96. 3. 118–125. 10.3200/tsss.96.3.118-125. 144839570 . 0037-7996.
  4. Book: A., Riess, Steven. Major problems in American sport history : documents and essays. January 2014. 978-1-133-31108-9. 870647030.
  5. Web site: Markarian. Ray. The 10 Most Controversial Decisions in Boxing History. 2021-05-01. Bleacher Report. en.
  6. Web site: MacDonald. James. The 10 Most Controversial Judging Decisions in UFC History. 2021-05-01. Bleacher Report. en.
  7. https://verdictmma.com/event/makhachev-vs-volkanovski/fight/islam-makhachev-vs-alex-volkanovski Verdict MMA