by David P. Greisman

Vasyl Lomachenko has only lost two boxing matches ever — one in his amateur career, and now one early into his pro career, after his split decision defeat to Orlando Salido on the undercard to the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.-Bryan Vera rematch.

The sole scorecard in Lomachenko’s favor came from Levi Martinez, who had him winning 115-113, giving him 7 of the 12 rounds — rounds 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11 and 12.

Oren Shellenberger had it 115-113 for Salido. In terms of the rounds he gave Lomachenko, those were rounds 3, 7, 10, 11 and 12.

Jack Reiss had a wider margin for Salido at 116-112. The only rounds he gave to Lomachenko were rounds 1, 5, 11 and 12.

That means that Lomachenko was behind early and battled back on the cards late. Halfway through the bout, Shellenberger had Lomachenko down 5 rounds to 1, Reiss had Lomachenko down 4 rounds to 2, and Martinez had it even at 3 rounds to 3.

Shellenberger and Martinez both found four of the final six rounds for Lomachenko. Reiss only found two. Had he found two more, his scorecard would’ve been 114-114, and the result would’ve been a split draw.

There were only two rounds in which all three judges agreed that Lomachenko won: 11 and 12. Two judges gave him Round 1. One judge gave him Round 3. One judge gave him Round 4. Two judges gave him Round 5. Two judges gave him Round 7. One judge gave him Round 8. And one judge gave him Round 10.

That means that Lomachenko got the edge on at least one judge’s scorecard in nine of the 12 rounds. Then again, Salido got an edge at least one judge’s scorecard in 10 of the 12 rounds. There were three rounds in which all three judges agreed that Salido won: 2, 6 and 9.

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 Salido would’ve won seven rounds and Lomachenko would’ve won five rounds, and the final card would’ve been the 115-113 that Oren Shellenberger turned in.

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