I get asked about this enough times a year that it belongs on its own page. What follows is my actual scoring process — the one I used to file cards for the old print column, the one I still use every Saturday, and the one that underwrites every decision I disagree with on this site.
The card, in shorthand
The process, round by round
- Reset the pen. Between rounds I write nothing for the first ten seconds of the break. The corner is talking. I want the ambient sound, not my own commentary.
- Four marks, four criteria. For each of clean punching, effective aggression, ring generalship, and defense, I put a check, a double-check, or a dash next to the fighter I thought won that criterion. A dash means even. Nothing lives in the margin as "vibes."
- One-line note per round. The fight-defining beat of the round in five words or less. "Body shot at 1:40." "Red cornered twice." "Blue hurt at the bell." These are the lines I go back to on rewatch.
- Score. 10-9 for the clearer winner on criteria. 10-10 is legal and underused; I'll use it for a genuinely even round. 10-8 requires either a knockdown or one fighter being so thoroughly outworked for three minutes that the round was functionally a knockdown without the canvas.
- No peeking at the running total mid-fight. I tally at the end of round 12 (or 5, or 3). If I know who's ahead in round 8, I risk scoring round 9 to protect the narrative instead of scoring what happened.
The three rules I won't break
- Effort is not a criterion. Output is not a criterion. Effectiveness is the criterion. A fighter can throw 120 punches in a round and lose the round if 95 of them hit gloves.
- Knockdowns are not automatic 10-8s in my card. They are automatic on the official card. In my private card, if the knocked-down fighter recovers and wins the remaining 2:45, the round can be 10-9 his way. I will write this out in the breakdown so you can disagree in public if you want.
- I don't change a card after the decision is announced. The whole point of filling it out live is that it's a record of what I thought before I knew what the judges thought. If I let the judges rewrite my card, I'm not a critic, I'm a follower.
What I got wrong last year
Four cards, meaningfully. I had the welterweight rematch in July 96–94 when the better read was 95–95. I had the September MMA co-main 29–28 when the knockdown in round two was a clear 10-8 and the correct card was 29–27. I had the November title fight two rounds off the consensus and on rewatch I was right on one of them and wrong on the other. The fourth I'd rather not re-litigate; the post is still up, with my name on it.
That's the exercise. Fill the card. Keep the card. Let the card embarrass you when it deserves to.