Are controversial scorecards pushing fans away from boxing and toward MMA? Breaking down fan outrage over Teófimo López vs. Jamaine Ortiz result

The Teófimo López vs. Jamaine Ortiz boxing match just wrapped up, and the outcome was nothing short of controversial. The pair crossed swords over López's WBO and The Ring super lightweight titles in a 12-round chess match that saw the defending champion emerge victorious.

Unfortunately, López's win was anything but convincing. He struggled to cut off his foe's angles of escape and impose his presence in the bout. Meanwhile, Ortiz was evasive as he frustrated the super lightweight titleholder. In the end, López's unanimous decision was booed as the scorecards were read.

A similar situation occurred in the MMA world at UFC 297, with many fans disagreeing with the scorecards for the Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland middleweight title fight. But such cases are rare in MMA, so could their prevalence in boxing lead to a fan exodus to its rival sport?

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Teófimo López vs. Jamaine Ortiz and the history of fan frustration with boxing

When Teófimo López was declared the winner of his bout with Jamaine Ortiz, fans were in uproar over the result. After all, the judges' scorecards of 115-113, 115-113, and 117-111 were controversial, and for good reason. López gave up the championship rounds in a closely contested bout.

While López may have won, a 117-111 scorecard was far-fetched, to say the least. But this isn't the first matchup with an outcome that left boxing fans soured. The sport has a history of controversial scorecards and outright robberies that dwarf the percentage of similar occurrences in MMA.

Check out Teófimo López being declared the winner over Jamaine Ortiz:

Three other instances come to mind. Devin Haney recently defended his status as the undisputed lightweight champion in a boxing match against Vasiliy Lomachenko. The bout took place last year and ended in controversy, with 'The Dream' winning via unanimous decision.

This sparked outrage among boxing fans, who felt Lomachenko had done enough to win. The Ukranian phenom found success with punishing combinations, outworking Haney across multiple rounds and outlanding him by 14 punches. Nevertheless, every scorecard was in the American's favor.

Many felt that, if not a Lomachenko win, a draw or even a razor-thin split-decision win for 'The Dream' would have been more sensible. Boxing promoter Bob Arum, a controversial figure himself, also scored the bout in favor of the Ukranian, drawing criticism from Haney.

Check out Vasiliy Lomachenko's reaction to losing to Devin Haney:

Another one of the most well-known boxing matches in recent memory to sour fans with its outcome was Tyson Fury's first encounter with Deontay Wilder. 'The Gypsy King' spent most of the bout outboxing his foe in pursuit of Wilder's WBC heavyweight championship.

However, Wilder imposed himself on occasion, scoring a knockdown in round 9 that stunned the crowd. Despite Fury recovering to steal rounds 10 and 11, he was again knocked down in devastating fashion in round 12, where it seemed like 'The Gypsy King' was surely unconscious.

Yet, he miraculously got back to his feet to beat the referee's count and close out the fight by pressing the action. In the end, the bout was declared a draw, generating tremendous controversy, with some feeling that Wilder should have won, while many declared Fury the uncrowned winner.

Once again, boxing fans were left furious with the judges' decision-making. Similarly, in 2012, the matchup between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley drew widespread criticism when the judges ruled the fight in favor of the American. Both men fought valiantly, but Pacquiao seemed the clear victor.

The Filippino legend outlanded his foe, rocking Bradley on several occasions throughout the bout. Yet, he was still handed a split-decision loss, causing many to label the result one of the worst robberies in recent years at the time. All of these instances have led to the narrative that boxing is teeming with corrupt judges.

While MMA has its own questionable decisions, the frequency of such occurrences is much lower than in boxing. Furthermore, boxing as a sport has been driving its fans away due to its inability to book fighters into matchups that the fans call for. It took Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao six years to lock horns.

Besides rare cases like Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brock Lesnar and Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou, MMA fares far better at scheduling fights that the fans demand. Coupled with many's frustration with boxing's prevalent issues with controversial judging, it's only natural that MMA has flourished.

UFC CEO Dana White has openly spoken about his promotion's dominance over boxing due to some of the aforementioned factors. MMA enjoys a larger public profile, and its stars dwarf the most notable names in boxing. Besides Tyson Fury and arguably Canelo Álvarez, few boxers have a strong mainstream presence.

Conor McGregor, Israel Adesanya, Jon Jones, Nate Diaz, and Francis Ngannou have few boxing equivalents in terms of global reach and appeal. Furthermore, the UFC generated more revenue in 2022 than boxing and every other combat sports promotion, entity, etc., combined.

Check out Luke Thomas' take on the UFC's profitability:

If that does not indicate fan interest in boxing waning in favor of MMA (the UFC, specifically), then nothing else is. Until 'The Sweet Science' addresses many of its internal issues, it may very well stay that way.