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    When it comes to announcing a fight I generally like Jim Lampley. For the most part he doesn't get in the way of the fight and conveys the action as it unfolds, with the exception of the '97 Pernell Whitaker/Oscar de La Hoya fight (my opinion). As an added bonus, the more often he is speaking means less airtime for Larry Merchant. But when he starts pontificating after the bout I usually change the channel. However, after the recent Miguel Cotto/Oktay Urkal WBA welterweight title clash, I agree with a point that Lampley belabored. The process of "open scoring" brought about a early end to the fight in the eleventh round. Obviously Cotto was winning the fight and the thudding body blows that Urkal was taking would have made it very difficult for Urkal to win the fight. I think it was very obvious that in order to win the fight Urkal would have needed a knockout, but we have seen in any number of fights, anything can happen when the decision is left to the judges. In the above example from the Pernell Whitaker/Oscar de la Hoya fight, a fight where Whitaker out landed De la Hoya 232-191 and had Oscar down in the ninth, the decision went against Whitaker 116-110, 116-110, 115-111. That's eight rounds to four on two cards. If "open scoring" had been in effect, "Sweet Pea" would have know by at least the tenth that he needed a knockout to win. That is against his style and counterproductive to the way he fights. He would have been forced to take chances that would have left him open to getting hit with shots from Oscar. As it was Whitaker clowned through the twelfth, though it didn't effect the outcome.

    In the Cotto/Urkal fight, Miguel Cotto consistently landed to the body with thudding, devastating punches. but Urkal didn't necessarily appear to be out of the bout. He wasn't doing much damage, but he was still moving well. While there didn't really seem to be anyway that Urkal was going to win by knockout, and even though the German was fighting in Puerto Rico in Cotto's backyard, there was still a chance that a decision could go his way. But after the referee took away a second point from Urkal for headbutting, his corner felt that there was no need to continue and threw in the towel.

    There are several things that I would like to change about the fight game as it works currently, but when it comes to "open scoring" I am a traditionalist. And for a change I agree with Jim Lampley.