Hi, I'm Verklemptomaniac. You may remember me from such Fanposts as... well, all the "This Week in Terrible Judging" posts I did over the last year. If you're not familiar with those, click here and go read them. They're awesome!

Seriously, though. I've been doing this series since late 2015, but this is the first year where I managed to consistently keep up with the series through the entire year. As such, I feel like it's only appropriate to take a look back at all the terrible judging we've seen over the last year, and give a shout out (shout at?) to the terrible judges who made it possible.

Thus: The Verklempt Awards! Celebrating Honoring Calling out the worst of the worst in boxing judging this year, in the hopes that the Boxing Gods will hear my prayers and arrange for these judges to get trampled to death after wandering between Eddie Hearn and a camera.

So without further ado: The Verklempt Awards!

Adelaide Byrd Award for Worst Scorecard of 2018

There are a few different ways a scorecard can be awful. You have cases where a losing fighter clearly won some number of rounds, but a judge refuses to give them the credit they deserve, scoring it too wide for the winner. You have cases where the winning fighter clearly won some number of rounds, but a judge refuses to give them the credit they deserve, scoring it too close for the winner. And you have the truly maddening cases, where one fighter clearly won some number of rounds, enough to win the fight, but a judge nonetheless scores the fight for the other fighter.

Now, it's tempting to think that robbery scorecards are automatically the worst scorecards, but that's not always the case. There are occasions where a judge gets the winner right, but turns in a scorecard that bears absolutely no relation to reality; while not as damaging as a robbery card, it's just as troubling in general, especially since the "too close/too wide" cards coincidentally seem to usually favor the house/money fighter. Funny how that works.

Dishonorable Mentions

Josh Warrington SD-12 Lee Selby (116-112, 115-113, 113-115)

Most observers had Warrington winning 8 or 9 rounds in this fight from early June. Canadian pillock Alan Davis gave him five, in a fight Lee Selby had absolutely no argument to win.

Maurice Hooker SD-12 Terry Flanagan (117-111, 115-113, 111-117)

Kinda like the Warrington/Selby fight, Flanagan put in a brave effort back in mid-June, but was clearly outclassed, with most observers giving Hooker 8 or 9 rounds. But Illinois-based nimrod Jerry Jakubco only gave Hooker three. Absolutely absurd.

Josh Taylor UD-12 Viktor Postol (119-108, 118-110, 117-110)

All three of the cards for this mid-July were shit; while Taylor deserved the win, Postol gave him all he could handle, and most observers had Postol winning four or five rounds. But Ghanaian clod Eddie Pappoe somehow only found one round to give to the visiting fighter. I have a feeling Pappoe is gonna be a popular judge to bring in as a 'neutral judge' going forward. The other two cards were pretty terrible, too, but Pappoe gets the spotlight as the worst of the bunch.

Gilberto Ramirez UD-12 Roamer Alexis Angulo (120-108, 119-109 x2)

Different venue, same song in mid-July. Ramirez clearly won the fight, but previously unknown challenger Angulo didn't make it easy, winning three or four rounds on most scorecards. But New Mexico-based dolt (and Three-Time Loser) Levi Martinez showed that judging boxing is really not that hard if you just fill out your scorecard before the fight, scoring it a shutout for the house fighter. The other two judges were lousy as well, but Martinez was particularly awful.

Fedor Chudinov SD-12 Nadjib Mohammedi (116-112, 115-113, 111-118)

This late-July fight was a flat-out robbery. French fringe contender Mohammedi had the fight of his life, surviving early against the heavily favored Chudinov, and then turning on the gas once Chudinov gassed hard in the second half of the fight. Most observers had Mohammedi winning between seven and ten rounds in this fight, but inexperienced Ukrainian schmagege Andriy Baliasov somehow gave Chudinov eight rounds, doing his part to deny Mohammedi a career-changing (and life-changing) win. (German judge and Two-Time Loser Joerg Milke turned in the 115-113 card for Chudinov, which was almost as awful.)

Mairis Briedis UD-12 Noel Gevor (116-110, 115-111, 114-112)

Heavy favorite Briedis basically got taken to school by relatively unknown Armenian-German Noel Gevor in mid-November, but reality doesn't matter when there's a house fighter to protect, so Briedis got an undeserved decision, with Mexican stunad Benjamin Rendon giving Briedis nine rounds in a fight he pretty clearly lost. (Four-Time Loser Steve Morrow and Hubert Minn also turned in robbery cards.)

Anthony Joshua TKO-7 Alexander Povetkin (59-55, 58-56 x2)

It's a good thing Joshua got the stoppage in this fight, because Alexander Povetkin was on his way to getting robbed blind in late September fight. Povetkin had arguably won five of the first six rounds before the stoppage, but Florida Man Carlos Sucre somehow found only one round to give to Povetkin. Povetkin isn't the most sympathetic guy, given the repeated PED violations, but he fought his ass off before getting stopped, and deserved credit for it.

Tyson Fury Split Draw-12 Deontay Wilder (114-112, 113-113, 111-115)

Deontay Wilder fought like a champ back in December, going for broke needing a stoppage in the 12th and damn near getting it. But there's absolutely no doubt he needed the stoppage, and he didn't get it. Yet somehow, California-based Mexican schlamazel (and Four-Time Loser) Alejandro Rochin somehow found seven rounds to give to Wilder, where even the most generous scorers could only find five rounds that Wilder could conceivably have won.

Oleksandr Gvodzyk KO-11 Adonis Stevenson (95-95, 94-96, 92-98)

Gvodzyk was clearly winning this December fight when he got the stoppage in the 11th over noted abuser of teen sex slaves Adonis Stevenson. Most had Gvodzyk winning six or seven of the first ten rounds, with five as the absolute minimum. But damn, it's a good thing Gvodzyk got the stoppage, because Canadian yutz Jack Woodburn was clearly determined to give Stevenson the win, scoring eight rounds for Adonis.(Guido Cavalleri, who turned in the 96-94 card for Stevenson, also deserves your scorn.)

Jermall Charlo UD-12 Matt Korobov (119-108, 116-112 x2)

Charlo won this December fight fair and square, but Korobov arguable won the first six rounds, and clearly won four of the first six, landing lead lefts at will while barely allowing Charlo to land anything of consequence. And yet, somehow, New Jersey-based jamoke Larry Hazzard Jr. scored all but one round for Charlo, the money fighter.

Sadam Ali UD-10 Mauricio Herrera (100-90, 99-91, 98-92)

Bad scorecards in a Mauricio Herrera fight? No way! Poor Mauricio Herrera can't catch a break; his style isn't very aesthetically pleasing, but he lands clean punches and keeps his opponents from landing clean punches, which should usually be a recipe for victory. He made Ali look awful in this December fight; I gave Herrera seven rounds, but a draw would've been fair. All three of the scorecards were complete bullshit, but the shutout card for Ali, turned in by Pennsylvian-based schnook Bernard Bruni, was complete insanity. (Two-Time Losers Larry Hazzard Jr. and David Sutherland also deserve your contempt for turning in awful scorecards.)

And the Verklempt Award for Worst Scorecard of 2018 goes to:

Sergey Lipinets MD-10 Erick Bone (99-91, 98-92, 95-95)

You'll be seeing more about this early August fight when I discuss the worst robberies of the year, but holy shit, this was bad. I only gave Lipinets one round, and most only gave him 2-3 rounds, but inexperienced Ohio-based schmuck (and Three-Time Loser) John Basile gave Lipinets nine rounds. Nine! What? How?! Why?! (And Two-Time Loser Frank Lombardi didn't do much better with his 98-92 card.) Basile isn't among the more high-profile Terrible Judges, but damn if he didn't cover himself in glory pig shit here.

Email me to get your trophy, John! It's got a bronze cast of my hand flipping you the Byrd. (Get it?!) I'd say that I hoped you poked an eye out with it, but based on this effort, it's clear that even with one eye in the land of the blind, you'd be nothing but a serf.

Erislandy Lara/Paul Williams Award for Worst Robbery of 2018

Boxing is, at its core, a simple sport. Two guys in a ring try to batter each other profusely about the head and torso. Assuming no stoppage, the winner of the fight is the guy who does more and better battery of the opponent's head and torso. Sometimes, there are close fights, with enough close rounds that reasonable people could reasonably disagree on who deserves to win the fight, based simply on whose work they preferred in the close rounds.

This is not the case in a robbery. In a robbery, there are enough clear rounds for one fighter that there can be no reasonable dispute that they deserved the decision. Too often, however, though some combination of incompetence and corruption, judges look at a fight where one guy clearly wins and say "Nope, other guy wins, too bad LOL." Imagine if, at the end of a football game, the score was 28-17, and the refs awarded the game to the team with 17 points because of superior field generalship. It's insanity.

It's made worse by the fact that robberies usually (but not always, as we saw this year with Jermell Charlo/Tony Harrison) favor the house/money fighter. Repeatedly seeing low profile fighters come in on short notice, for short money, against name fighters, fight the fight of their lives, earn a win that will change their lives, and make it so they can move forward as a name fighter, rather than an opponent... only to have that snatched away from them by the judges... it makes me fucking furious. These guys sacrifice their bodies, their long term health, to entertain us. When they earn a win, they should damn well get the win.

But too often, they don't. Why? Because of Terrible Judging.

Dishonorable Mentions

Andy Vences Maj. Draw-10 Erick De Leon (95-95 x2, 94-96)

A classic gift draw for an money fighter who got exposed by his less heralded opponent. De Leon was a three time National Golden Gloves champ who came into this March fight clearly being groomed for stardom against fellow undefeated prospect Andy Vences. Vences. Vences never got that memo, though, and took De Leon to school for most of the fight, landing jabs and straight rights virtually at will, and winning 7 rounds clean and clear on my scorecard. But thanks to an all-star panel of terrible judges (Three-Time Loser Zac Young, Four-Time Loser Alejandro Rochin, and Seven-Time Loser Max DeLuca), Vences was robbed of a career making win. Thankfully, it seems that Top Rank has realized that it has a good fighter in Vences, and got him a solid follow-up fight on ESPN for a WBC regional trinket, which will hopefully help him get ranked in the near future. Because after the problems he gave De Leon, nobody's gonna be rushing out to fight Vences. With a the win he deserved, he might already be ranked, and would be closer to meaningful, money fights.

Fedor Chudinov SD-12 Nadjib Mohammedi (116-112, 115-113, 111-118)

I discussed this one in the Worst Scorecards section, but a brief follow-up point to illustrate the consequences of the robbery: the fight was for a minor WBA trinket. Chudinov didn't fight again in 2018, but with with the 'win', is now ranked #2 in the WBA (as well as #5 in the IBF and #7 in the WBC), and is positioned to get a title fight sometime next year if he wins another fight or two. Mohammedi, by contrast, went on the road to Russia to face a two-time Olympian, and got brutally KO'd. If Mohammedi had won the fight, he might've been able to get a better fight on better terms, instead of having to go on the road to be fed to a rising prospect.

Thomas Mattice SD-8 Zhora Hamazaryan (76-75 x2, 74-77)

More of the same in July. Cleveland-based prospect Mattice got outfought by LA-based Armenian Hamazaryan, with most observers having Hamazaryan winning five or six of the eight rounds, plus a knockdown. But two random Nebraska judges, Mike Contreras and Jeff Sinnet, scored five rounds for the house fighter, giving him an undeserved split decision win. They rematched in September, which ended up as a fairly decided split draw, but Hamazaryan should've moved on to bigger and better things with this win.

Canelo Alvarez MD-12 Gennady Golovkin (115-113 x2, 114-114)

I discussed my view of this fight at length back in September, but it still makes me angry. It was a competitive fight. Both guys did good work. I had it 116-112 for GGG, and while I strongly disagree with the draw card, it's not completely unreasonable. But there were just not 7 rounds to give to Canelo in that fight, plain and simple. Both this fight and the first fight should've been capstones on GGG's Hall of Fame resume, answers to anyone who questioned the strength of his opposition. Instead, in two fights he won, he had to settle for a draw and a majority decision loss, and he's left chasing after Canelo to try to force a third fight. Four-Time Loser Dave Moretti and Two-Time Loser (and arguably the best active judge?) Steve Weisfeld have a lot to answer for for this one.

Mairis Briedis UD-12 Noel Gevor (116-110, 115-111, 114-112)

I discussed this November fight in the Worst Scorecards section, but it's worth considering the consequences of this robbery: Briedis moves on the WBSS, with at least one guaranteed high profile, high payday fight guaranteed in the next round. Gevor, meanwhile, is ranked 10th by the WBC, is unranked by the other sanctioning bodies, and is likely going to be considered too dangerous to get any decent fights going forward.

Sadam Ali UD-10 Mauricio Herrera (100-90, 99-91, 98-92)

Man, judges just hate poor Mauricio Herrera, don't they? Imagine what his career could've looked like if he hadn't gotten robbed against Danny Garcia and Jose Benevidez Jr. (both in 2014), or if he'd gotten the nod in some of the other close fights he was in. He deserves better.

And the Verklempt Award for Worst Robbery of 2018 goes to:

Sergey Lipinets MD-10 Erick Bone (99-91, 98-92, 95-95)

This one was goddamn heartbreaking, and reminds me so much of the infamous Richard Abril/Brandon Rios robbery. Like Rios, Lipinets is, at his best, an aggressive volume puncher, but looked slow and tentative due to weight issues (Lipinets moving up to 147, Rios due to a rough weight cut). Both found themselves in against tall, rangy boxers with good jabs and good movement, who tore them up with jabs and slashing combinations. Both Abril and Bone won clear, unquestionable decisions, as Rios/Lipinets were utterly unable to consistently land anything meaningful.

And like Abril, Bone got robbed blind. I scored only one round for Lipinets. Most people gave him between one and three rounds. Frank Lombardi gave him eight. John Basile gave him nine. Nine! I tend to believe most judging is more incompetence than corruption, but I cannot believe that a sentient carbon-based lifeform could've watched that fight and scored it for Lipinets. Emus scored it wide for Bone. Ferns scored it wide for Bone. Amoebas scored it wide for Bone. I watched the fight again, and then asked Alexa who won, and she said Bone; when I told her that they gave the decision to Lipinets, she started cursing in Hungarian, and hasn't stopped since.

Lipinets will keep cruising along on PBC cards until his record is fattened up enough to be fed to Danny Garcia or Keith Thurman. For Bone, who was 20(9)-5 coming in, this was his big chance. He was giving Shawn Porter all he could handle back in their 2015 matchup (coming in on 24 hours notice!) before a knee injury hobbled him and he got stopped. He lost three more fights against solid opposition (Chris Algieri, Miguel Vazquez, and Eddie Ramirez), and then got back on track against marginal opposition. A win over a world-class fighter like Lipinets would've changed his career; he'd have the credibility to not have to take fights on short notice for short money, and would have a chance to work his way up the sanctioning body rankings. Instead, he took a nothing fight back home in Ecuador in October, and will be relegated back to opponent status.

Bone fought the fight of his life in a fight he was supposed to lose. He beat a world class opponent. But two judges looked at him fighting the fight of his life and didn't give a shit, because dammit, the house fighter is supposed to win. Fuck them both.

Confederacy of Dunces Award for Worst Judging At A Single Event In 2018

Given the frequency of terrible judging in the boxing world, it's unfortunately not too uncommon to see terrible scorecards in more than one fight on the same card. But it seems like every year, there are a handful of cards where the judges were served tequila, shrooms, and blows to the head in their waiting areas, because bad judging seems to infect the entire fight card. This award highlights instances of collective madness, like those cases in the 1500s when entire areas where overcome with an uncontrollable dancing plague. Except they're all terrible dancers.

Dishonorable Mention

The Entire Goddamn Jose Sulaiman WBC World Invitational Tournament - Louisville, KY, 27 April 2018

Credit where credit's due - as much as we all bash the WBC for being awful and corrupt and incompetent and all, they tried to do something interesting here. For all the fights on this welterweight showcase card (which was supposed to be a tourney, but there have been no follow-up fights, and many of the winners have been on hold since April, so great job?), the WBC experimented with having five judges, instead of the usual three, in an effort to avoid bad decisions. A worthy idea!

One slight problem: they did it in the famous boxing hotbed of Kentucky, not exactly known for the depth of its judging talent pool. To their credit, they did bring in some name judges from other states to supplement the local talent. (Of course, one of those they brought in was Seven-Time Loser Max DeLuca, so... yeah.) As a result, you ended up with terrible scorecards on four of the five top-billed fights, with inexperienced local Kentucky judges Amy Evans, Carlo Kellem, and aging local weatherman local weatherman Kent Hendrickson showing they're not ready for prime time. (California judge Kermit Bayless and New Mexico judge Chris Tellez also managed to embarass themselves.) How bad was the judging on this card? Max DeLuca turned in sensible scorecards! Yeesh, you know things are bad when you have people screwing up fights that Max DeLuca gets right.

And the Verklempt Award for Worst Judging At A Single Event In 2018 goes to:

Incompetence in Inglewood - Superfly 3, Inglewood, CA, 8 September 2018

Hoo boy. This Tom Loeffler-promoted card, headlined by Juan Francisco Estrada versus Felipe Orucuta, featured the best of the worst of the modern California bad judging pool. Three-Time Losers Jonathan Davis and Carla Caiz! Four-Time Loser Alejandro Rochin! Four-Time Loser Alejandro Rochin again! The dean of terrible California judges, Max DeLuca! Guest starring incompetent Las Vegas judge Robert Hoyle! And bad cards in all four of the major fights on the card!

Aside from the depth of bad judging talent involved, and the fact that there were terrible scorecards in all of the major fights, what makes this card worthy of the Verklempt Award, beating out a strong challenge from The Entire Goddamn Jose Sulaiman WBC World Invitational Tournament, is the presence of a robbery. Donnie Nietes was denied a title in a fourth weight class after being forced to settle for a split draw against Aston Palicte, in a surprisingly competitive fight that Nietes nonetheless clearly won. (Nietes would go on to get a karma receipt on New Year's Eve, when he got an undeserved split decision over Kazuto Ioka to win that elusive title in a fourth weight class.)

Inexperienced Kentucky judges put up a strong fight, but in the end, they just couldn't compete with the experienced, battle-proven terrible judges of California.

Ides of March Award for Worst Month By A Judge In 2018

There have been some judges who've quickly risen (descended?) in the ranks of terrible judges, piling up a number of bad decisions over the course of several months. But every so often, you see someone get the judging equivalent of the yips in baseball, and completely lose the ability to discern winners from losers. It doesn't happen very frequently, but when it does, it's amazing to behold. Like a majestic eagle repeatedly flying dick first into a tree.

And the Verklempt Award for Worst Month By A Judge In 2018 goes to:

Edward Hernandez Sr. - September 2018 (See here and here)

Prior to September, California judge Edward Hernandez Sr., a veteran of 435 fights at the time, had never appeared in this series. He'd turned in a too-close scorecard for the correct winner in late 2017, and had been one of the judges who robbed Moises Flores against Oscar Escandon back in 2015 (triggering an explosion of apocalyptic wrath from Teddy Atlas), so there were some indications he might not be the strongest judge. But holy crap, did he show his ass in September. Let's break out the bullet points!

On September 1st, he turned in a way-too-wide 98-92 scorecard for Ryan Garcia in his majority decision win over Carlos Morales - most observers had Garcia winning five or six rounds, but eight was ridiculous, and denigrated the hard effort that Morales put in.

On September 14th, he turned in a way-too-close 96-94 scorecard for Bryan Vazquez in his unanimous decision win over Carlos Cardenes, in a fight Vazquez had an argument to win by shutout.

On the same card, he turned in a weird-as-hell 59-54 scorecard for Gabriel Flores Jr. in his unanimous decision win over Roger Gutierrez. Gutierrez scored a knockdown in the first, and won the fourth on my card, but somehow Hernandez didn't even score the first as a 10-8 for Gutierrez. No idea what was going on there.

Clearly, Hernandez Sr. was jealous of all the attention all the other terrible California judges were getting, because he worked his ass off in September to make himself a Three-Time Loser. But with a crowded field of talented incompetents, Hernandez Sr. is going to need more than a bad month here and there to stand out. But credit where credit is due; no other judge had a worse month in 2018 than Edward Hernandez Sr.

Shoulda Stayed At Home Award for Worst Night By A Judge In 2018

A companion award to the Worst Judging At a Single Event award, this award celebrated judges who somehow managed to screw up two fights on the same card. Truly, only the best of the worst can somehow find the strength inside themselves to give preferential scoring to not one, but two house fighters in a single night. Let us honor these champions of dumbassery.

Dishonorable Mentions

Alejandro Rochin - 8 September 2018

On the Verklempt-winning Incompetence in Inglewood Superfly 3 card, California judge and Four-Time Loser Rochin stood head and shoulders above the rest of the morons judging fights. On the undercard, he had a too-wide 98-92 scorecard for Alexandru Marin in his split decision win over Bruno Escalante, in a fight that most observers had Marin winning, but much closer. Then, in the main event, Rochin had a wacky 118-110 scorecard for Juan Francisco Estrada in his unanimous decision win over Felipe Orucuta, in a fight where Orucuta probably won three or four of the first six rounds.

Edward Hernandez Sr. - 14 September 2018

See the discussion for Hernandez Sr.'s Verklempt-award winning bad month above, but in short, he turned in one way-too-close card and one plain nonsensical card on the same night.

Predrag Aleksic - 30 November 2018

Relatively unknown Montenegro-based judge Aleksic had himself a hell of a night here, screwing up in both of the top two fights on this card from Florence, Italy. First, he turned in a dissenting 116-112 card for Andrea Scarpa in his split decision Euro title loss to Joe Hughes, in a fight that most observers had Hughes winning wide. Then, in a bout for an vacant interim regional WBC belt (I shit you not), he at least scored it for the right guy, but his 115-113 card for Martin Joseph Ward of Devis Boschiero was way too close in a fight Ward won nine or so rounds in.

And the Verklempt Award for Worst Night By A Judge In 2018 goes to:

John Madfis - 20 October 2018

On the undercard of this fight card in Boston, Massachusetts-based judge and Three-Time Loser Madfis was one of two judges who turned in wide 118-110 scorecards for Kid Galahad in his unanimous decision win over Toka Kahn Clary, in a fight that most observers had much closer. Then, in the main event, a fifth round stoppage for Tevin Farmer over James Tennyson, Madfis somehow managed to score two of the first four rounds for Tennyson, despite Tennyson getting mollywhopped for virtually every single second of that fight. The sheer insanity of that latter card is what propels Madfis to victory here. There were worse scorecards that either of these efforts by Madfis, but if only for one night, Madfis was the worst judge of 2018.

Special Award: Inigo Montoya Award for Longest-Lasting Grudge By A Judge

Back in May 2016, Mexican veteran Horacio Garcia fought California-based Erik Ruiz to a split draw. Most observers thought the draw was a fair result in a close, competitive fight, but two judges had wide scorecards (one for each fighter). In particular, Vegas judge Lisa Giampa scored it 98-92 for Ruiz, which was out of line with what happened in the ring, and disrespected the hard effort put forth by Garcia.

Why do I bring this up in a 2018 year-in-review? Well, glad you asked! In September of this year, Garcia got robbed in a split decision loss to Issac Zarate; the robbery was so egregious, the judge who got it right was Adelaide Byrd!

And one of the judges who robbed Garcia in the Zarate fight was... Lisa Giampa. Twenty-eight months apart, Giampa could not contain apparent irrational hatred of Horacio Garcia, and robbed the poor guy blind.

As for what Giampa was thinking... well, let me take you inside the mind of a judge.

Yeah, shit.

Max DeLuca Award for Worst Judge of 2018

Max DeLuca is the Worst Active Judge in Boxing. There's no competition there; he's the only Seven-Time Loser I've tracked in this series, and he has a plethora of other bad scorecards from before I started, or during periods where I wasn't regularly updating this series. He's awful, made worse by how frequently he ends up on the judging panel for major fights.

This Verklempt Award, the big one, isn't to name the Worst Active Judge in Boxing. Rather, it's to identify the worst judge in 2018, irrespective of previous achievements in terribleness. It's only the best of the worst here; all of these contenders screwed up at least three times this year, and they're all atrocious at this whole "scoring boxing fights" thing. But only one can be named the Worst Judge of 2018.

Dishonorable Mentions

Edward Hernandez Sr. (California)

See my writeup of his award winning campaign for Worst Month By A Judge In 2018 above for the gory details.

Zac Young (California)

A Three-Time Loser, all of Zac Young's terrible scorecards came in 2018. Back in March, he was one of the judges who robbed Andy Vences against Erick De Leon. In June, he turned in a too-wide 117-111 scorecard for Leo Santa Cruz in his win over Abner Mares. And in September, like Edward Hernandez Sr., he turned in a crackpot scorecard in the Gabriel Flores Jr./Roger Gutierrez fight, apparently ignoring the knockdown that Gutierrez scored in the first round.

Alejandro Rochin (California)

Like his fellow California judge Zac Young, all of Rochin's bad scorecards that I've tracked were in 2018. Unlike Young, Rochin is already a Four-Time Loser. In addition to also participating in the March robbery of Andy Vences against Erick De Leon, and the two bad scorecards from the September Incompetence in Inglewood Superfly 3 card highlighted in the Worst Night By A Judge In 2018 (which he almost won), Rochin also had one of the top contenders for Worst Scorecard of 2018 in December: his abysmal 115-111 scorecard for Deontay Wilder against Tyson Fury. Even though he didn't win, Rochin put in a hell of an effort this year, and is surely one to watch going forward. Even if we'd prefer not to.

Steve Morrow (California)

Morrow, a Four-Time Loser, turned in three spectacularly bad scorecards in 2018. Back in February, he scored the Srisaket Sor Rungvisai/Juan Francisco Estrada fight 117-111 for SSR, in a fight that was much closer. In April, he had the Cristofer Rosales/Daigo Higa fight a draw when Rosales stopped Higa in the 9th; most observers had it much wider for Rosales. And he was one of three judges who robbed poor Noel Gevor against Marias Briedis in November. Not quite enough to win the Verklempt award, but that's more a function of the stiff competition than any slight on Morrow's ability to piss on his own shoes.

David Braslow (Maryland)

A non-California judge! I'm not shocked to see a DC-area judge on this list - the DC area unfortunately hasn't quite figured out who the reliable judges in the region are yet. (Then again, neither has California, Las Vegas, New York, New Jersey...) Back in April, in the Issac Dogboe/Jessie Magdaleno fight, he had a way-too-close 95-93 scorecard for Dogboe at the time of the 11th round stoppage. In May, he turned in a way-too-close 115-113 scorecard in Gary Russell's unanimous decision win over Jospeh Diaz; most observers had Diaz winning two or three rounds, at most. The next month, in June, he turned in an inexpiable draw card in the Helen Jospeh/Tyrieshia Douglas women's super flyweight fight, in a fight Joseph won wide. Only the last of three bad scorecards favored a house fighter, so I guess you can at least say that Braslow appears to be an idiot, rather than a crook.

Robin Taylor (New York)

Should I feel proud that a judge from my native NYC is up for consideration among all the California judges for this award? Or should I feel ashamed that someone this thundering dolt, this bloody pillock, this fakakta schmuck, this fuckin' jamoke is representing my hometown in the boxing world?

Probably the latter, because Taylor is pretty bad at this whole judging thing. Though she only came onto my radar in October of 2017, she's already at Five-Time Loser, along with Fernando Villareal, and trailing only Max DeLuca. In 2018, she turned in three awful scorecards:

In March, she turned a way-too-close 77-75 scorecard for Jose Uzcategui at the time he stopped Andre Dirrell, in a fight that was arguably a shutout.

In August, she turned in the draw scorecard in the Sergey Lipinets/Erick Bone majority decision robbery, which was the least bad of the three scorecards, but was still pretty goddamn bad.

And in December, she turned in an absolutely preposterous 116-112 scorecard for Tony Harrison in his robbery win over vaunted abuser and strangler of women Jermell Charlo.

Max DeLuca (California)

Speak of the devil. It's been a banner year for terrible judging, to the point where Max DeLuca, the Worst Active Judge in Boxing, was not the worst judge of the year! He damn well tried, though, turning in four awful scorecards over the course of the year:

Back in March, he was one of the three judges who robbed Andy Vences against Erick de Leon, letting de Leon escape with a gift draw.

Also in March, he turned in a too-close 115-113 scorecard for Jose Carlos Ramirez in his win over Amir Imam

In September, he turned in a way-too-wide 98-92 scorecard for Ryan Garcia in his majority decision win over Carlos Morales.

Also in September, he turned in a draw card in the Donnie Nietes/Aston Palicto fight, helping to force Nietes to accept a draw in a fight he clearly won.

That's two wrong winner cards, and two wrong score cards, in a single year. There's a reason that DeLuca is pacing the field for terrible judges: he's the goddamn worst.

And yet, he wasn't the worst judge in 2018.

And the Verklempt Award for Worst Judge Of 2018 goes to:

Fernando Villareal (California)

Villareal, one of only two Five-Time Losers, is a savant at stepping on his own dick while sitting in a chair at ringside. It's a rare skill, but dammit, Villareal has mastered it. Look at the bullshit he perpetrated on the boxing world this year:

Back in February, he helped undefeated local "prospect" Pedro Duran escape with a gift majority draw against prospect tester Enrique Tinoco, scoring it 77-75 for Duran in a fight most observers thought Tinoco deserved to win.

In June, he turned in an inexplicable draw scorecard in Jermell Charlo's majority decision win over Austin Trout, in a fight Charlo won pretty convincingly.

Literally the next day, he helped rob short-notice replacement Scott Alexander, who most thought won seven or eight rounds in his bout against Travis Kauffman, but ended up losing a majority decision.

That's three wrong winner scorecards! In one year! DeLuca got more cards wrong in 2018, but nobody got more cards more wrong in 2018 than Fernando "The Real Deal" Villareal. Accept your Verklempt Award, Fernando! You damn well earned it. As my Hungarian grandmother might have said: az isten bassza meg a bu"do"s ru"csko"s kurva anya'dat! (Translation: "May God fuck you, you stinking wrinkled whore mother." The Hungarians really know how to curse.)

That's it for this year. Honestly, I hope to never have to write another of these again... but let's be realistic, bad judging is a renewable resource. As long as judges are incompetent/corrupt/both, there will be terrible judging.

And as long as there are terrible judges, I'll be there to hurl myriad Yiddish insults at them and suggest creative ways in which they should remove themselves from the judging pool.

Preferably at high velocity.