by David P. Greisman

This much can be agreed on: Keith Thurman vs. Shawn Porter was a close fight. The competitive efforts from both welterweights were evident in both the unofficial punch statistics and the official scorecards.

All three judges — Eric Marlinski, Waleska Roldan and Steve Weisfeld — agreed that it was a close affair, scoring it 115-113 for Thurman, giving him seven rounds and Porter five.

They just disagreed on how they got there. There were only six rounds in which all three judges agreed unanimously.

All three judges had Thurman winning Round 1, and all three judges had Porter winning Round 2.

Roldan and Weisfeld had Thurman winning Round 3, while Marlinski had it for Porter.

All three judges had Thurman winning Round 4.

Roldan and Weisfeld had Porter winning Round 5, while Marlinski had it for Thurman.

Marlinski and Roldan had Porter winning Round 6, while Weisfeld had it for Thurman.

All three judges had Porter winning Round 7, and all three gave Round 8 to Thurman.

Marlinski and Weisfeld had Thurman winning Round 9, while Roldan gave it to Porter.

Marlinski and Roldan had Thurman winning Round 10, while Weisfeld gave it to Porter.

All three judges had Thurman winning Round 11.

And in the last round, Marlinski and Weisfeld had it for Porter while Roldan had it for Thurman.

Each judge was in the minority twice during the fight.

If we were to take a score from “majority rules” — in which a fighter gets the edge from at least 2 of the 3 judges for that round — then Thurman would’ve won seven rounds (1, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10 and 11) and Porter would’ve won five rounds (2, 5, 6, 7 and 12).

The final scorecard would’ve been the same as it turned out to be: 115-113 for Thurman.

Interestingly, after eight rounds the fight was even at 76-76, or four rounds apiece, in the eyes of Marlinski and Roldan. Weisfeld had it 77-75 for Thurman, or five rounds to three.

That means Thurman won the fight in the final four rounds. He took three of the final four on the cards of Marlinski and Roldan, and two of the final four rounds on Weisfeld’s.

Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at or internationally at . Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com