(JUNE 15) In an surprising and, judging from the reaction of the fans, unpopular decision, Heather Hardy was awarded a split decision over JackieTrivilino in a scheduled eight round bout on the undercard of a seven fight program, headlined by Chris Algieri and Ruslan Provodnikova, Saturday night at the Barclays Center in the heart of downtown Brooklyn. The decision came after seven of the eight rounds had been contested, one of several bizarre aspects of the fight.  [Controversial Stoppage Interview Video Go here]

Seconds before the start of the final round, the referee signaled, from midring that the bout was over. It was assumed, by the crowd, that Trivilino had been declared the winner by TKO, due to a cut above Hardy's right eye, incurred early in the bout. However, no movement was made to raise Trivilino's hand in victory and discussion among ring and medical officials, continued in Hardy's corner. After more than five minutes, the ring announcer proclaimed the bout had been stopped due to Hardy's cut, and the decision would go to the scorecards.

The resulting judges' tallies were announced as 67-66, Trivilino, 67-66, Hardy and,unaccountably, 68-65 Hardy, and were met with full voiced derision from the crowd, a cascade of boos from fans, who, up to that point, had expressed almost unanimous support for Hardy.

Those onlookers, charged with "covering" a sporting event, have a primary purpose of objectively rendering a report of the details of the contest. I try to adhere to that dictum. But given the circumstances surrounding the climax of this bout, I would be remiss in forgoing my impression that Jackie Trivilino maintained a decided edge in
the bigger punches, being the aggressor in almost every round and getting the best, to my eyes, in the majority of punch/punch exchanges with Hardy for most of the seven rounds. While Hardy certainly had some moments throughout the bout when she counterpunched effectively with left hooks to the head and body, the fight was clearly, in my view, Trivilino's and she deserved the win, whether by TKO or decision.

Heather Hardy has developing ring skills. To date, she had
wended her way through nine wins against a convential starter's kit of opponents that have, historically, been put in front of an "up and coming" fighter for whom "big things" in the sport are forecast. On Saturday night, Hardy took a step up in competition with the most experienced of her opponents yet and as she broke through to double digit bouts in a career that many think will result in the promised land of "big things," Heather Hardy got a small taste of just what lies ahead. It took what seemed like a convoluted set of circumstances to achieve that tenth win. And it only gets tougher from here.