'Trying to rob him': hall of fame trainer Teddy Atlas slams judges in Joseph Parker's win over Derek Chisora

The right man won, thankfully, but yet again the murky world of boxing scorecards has some of the greatest minds in the sport scratching their noggins in disbelief.

Kiwi heavyweight Joseph Parker has made a much-needed and impressive return to form on Sunday (NZT) with a unanimous decision 12 round victory over Derek Chisora, dominating the fight and knocking the rugged Brit down three times – although one looked to be more of a push.

The three judges scored the fight, at Manchester Arena, 115-111 (Ingo Barrabas), 115-110 (Giustino Di Giovanni) and 114-112 (Michael Alexander).

Wait what, 114-112?

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That was the reaction of many, including hall of fame trainer Teddy Atlas, who slammed all three cards but in particular Alexander’s 114-112.

“Actually on second thought I think all 3 judges should be administered CAT Scans,” Atlas wrote on Twitter.

Respected American boxing writer and commentator Mike Coppinger was even more scathing.

“Good thing he scored all those knockdowns because the judges were trying to rob him!! What a joke. Can’t see more than two rounds for Chisora,” Coppinger wrote.

“So one judge found six rounds for Chisora and the other two found five. And one judge gave Parker a 10-9 in one of the rounds he scored a knockdown in.

“Ludicrous. Wasn’t a difficult fight to score.”

Chris Mannix, another prominent US boxing journalist, was equally disgusted.

"These are criminally – criminally – bad scorecards. Parker scored three knockdowns and won at least nine rounds. These are investigation-worry scorecards."

Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn told Boxing UK he couldn’t make sense ofAlexander’s 114-112 card.

"I can't see 114-112, because without the knockdowns you're giving Chisora the fight," Hearn said.

"And that wouldn't have been right."

Hearn did feel that Chisora "nicked some rounds because of his work rate" but felt a 117-111 would have been an accurate scorecard.