EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — A controversial decision in the Stephanie Han-Holly Holm rematch has sparked a wave of online backlash, with some commenters claiming the fight was “rigged or fixed.”
But one amateur boxer, ARC El Paso anchor Christian Andrade, pushing back on that narrative, says the scoring system — and how rounds are judged — explains how Han could legitimately get the win even if Holm appeared busier overall.
Andrade, who described himself as “a three-time Golden Glove champion amateur boxer” with “38 fights,” said they have “been robbed of plenty decisions” and sympathize with Holm, but argued, “Respectfully, she didn’t do enough to win.”
A key point, Andrade said, is that fans are focusing on overall punch totals — “the stats of the total punches landed and thrown” — and noting that “Holm of course, had more than Han.” But Andrade said boxing is not judged on total punches landed or overall damage across the entire fight.
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“They’re judged round by round,” Andrade said, adding that the concept is different from most sports. To illustrate, they compared it to a football game in which one team wins three quarters and the other dominates the fourth: in boxing, the team that won more quarters would still win on the scorecards unless there was a knockout.
In the rematch, Andrade noted, Holm did not score a knockdown. “Matter of fact, she never even dropped her or gave her an 8 count,” he said.
ARC El Paso Christian Andrade explains round-by-round scoring that gave Han’s win
Andrade also pointed to the dynamic of Han entering the bout as the WBA champion, saying challengers typically need to do more to clearly take a title, especially in the champion’s hometown. However, he said they were not alleging intentional hometown favoritism by judges.
“Now, when I say that I don’t mean the judges intentionally favored the hometown fighter in any way,” he said, noting that “the two judges that said Han won were from Puerto Rico and California,” and “the judge that ruled a draw is from San Antonio.”
Still, Andrade argued that crowd reaction can influence how a fight is perceived in a sport they described as subjective when it goes to the scorecards. “When you have an entire arena screaming when Han lands a punch but not reacting as much to what Holm is doing, it could play an effect on how the judges perceive the fight and perception is everything,” he said.
Andrade said they thought it was “a great fight” and believed Holm won the final three rounds, which they suggested may be why many viewers were upset. “People always remember the end,” he said. But he added that when they scored the bout, they could see how Han “edged out 6 rounds,” calling the overall fight “definitely close.”
Andrade said they hoped the explanation helps fans better understand “the process of scoring a boxing match,” describing it as “super confusing and not like any other sport.”
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