THE FACE OF BOXING The Power of the Pen Steve Weisfeld and Amanda Serrano Photographs by Wojtek Urbanek • Text by Thomas Hauser T oo often, fights are poorly judged. Clean punching, defense, effective aggression and ring generalship are criteria that leave a lot of room for interpretation. And abuse. Fighters bleed in the ring and sometimes have their just reward taken from them. Boxing insiders know who the good judges are. And they know who the bad ones are, too. Steve Weisfeld is one of the best, with a reputation for integrity and competence. Weisfeld, who will turn 60 in March, is a practicing attorney who specializes in real estate law. His first judging
assignment in the pros came at the Ramada Hotel in New York City on September 20, 1991. One of his fellow judges that night was Harold Lederman. Since then, he has judged close to 3,000 fights, including more than 175 world championship contests. Weisfeld cast one of the votes in the historic first encounter between Micky Ward and Arturo Gatti (95-93 in Ward’s favor). He joined the other judges in delivering a unanimous verdict for Oleksandr Usyk when the Ukrainian seized the heavyweight crown from Anthony Joshua. His scorecard showed Wladimir Klitschko leading Joshua 95-93 when AJ ended matters with an 11th-round stoppage. And Steve was in a judge’s chair when Tyson Fury knocked out Deontay Wilder in their second and third bouts. In each instance, his scorecard (59-52 and 95-92) favored Fury. Was Weisfeld disappointed that some of those fights didn’t go the distance so he could have his say? “No,” Steve answers. “A fight goes to its natural conclusion. And whatever it is, I’m fine with that.” Amanda Serrano can testify to the power of judges. Over the course of 15 years, she has fashioned a 47-3-1 (31 KOs) ring record and won multiple belts in multiple weight classes, including undisputed status at featherweight. Weisfeld was at ringside for two of Serrano’s title fights in 2023 – a 120-108 x 3 drubbing of Danila Ramos and a unanimous decision over Erika Cruz Hernandez to unify all four major 126-pound titles while retaining the Ring Magazine featherweight championship (Steve scored that one 98-92).
But in the two biggest fights of her career, Serrano came up short on the judges’ scorecards (which, in the eyes of many, were just plain wrong). On April 30, 2022, she lost a 97-93, 96-93, 94-96 split decision to Katie Taylor at Madison Square Garden. The two women met in the ring again at AT&T Stadium on November 15, 2024. This time, all three judges scored the bout 95-94 in Taylor’s favor, prompting blow-by-blow commentator Mauro Ranallo to cry out, “My God! How does one rob Amanda Serrano after a performance like that?” Boxing needs more judges like Steve Weisfeld.
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