Controversial judge in Mayweather/Alvarez fight steps down

Floyd Mayweather Jr. (right) against Canelo Alvarez at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, in Las Vegas, Nevada ...on Saturday.

C.J. Ross has stepped down amid widespread outrage over her decision to score last Saturday’s Floyd Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez fight a draw.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, she sent an e-mail to Nevada State Athletic Commission head Keith Kizer that said, “I will be taking some time off from boxing but will keep in touch.”

Since her license expires at the end of this year, the 64-year-old Ross would have to reapply if she ever wanted to judge a fight again.

While Mayweather still won the fight, much of the post-match talk has been about Ross’s puzzling decision.

ESPN’s lead boxing analyst called her “criminal” and “corrupt” on live TV. Floyd called the decision a “joke.” And Canelo’s own promoter called it a “disgrace.”

While Kizer had strongly defended Ross in the face of the firestorm, she quickly became a symbol of the sport’s penchant for undermining itself with controversy.