By Jake Donovan

Days after their 12-round heavyweight battle, Chris Arreola and Travis Kauffman continue to debate over who deserved the nod. Arreola managed a split decision win in their NBC-televised bout in San Antonio, with public opinion ranging from a close fight that could have gone either way to Kauffman being robbed of what should have been a career-best win.

The only ones who didn't really disagree were the three judges.

Despite the split nod and the close nature of the bout, the ringside officials - Ursulo Perez, Valerie Dorsett and Wilfredo Esperon - were in full agreement in nine of the 12 rounds scored.

Perez and Dorsett both scored the bout 114-113 in favor of Arreola, a popular but declining heavyweight from Riverside, Calif. Esperon had Reading, Penn. native Kauffman winning by the very same score.

The fight was dead even (104-104) heading into the 12th round, one of only three on which the judges were in disagreement.

Punchstat numbers didn't seem to help provide any separation between the two.

Arreola landed more total punches (216 to 206) and at a higher connect percentage (37% to 31%). Kauffman landed more power punches (170-123), but also threw more than twice as many (466-215), thus giving Arreola the higher percentage landed (57% to 36%).

The battle of the jabs was clearly won by Arreola, who landed 93 out of 365 (25%), while Kauffman's jab was virtually non-existent, landing 36 of 203 for an 18% connect rate.

Other than a knockdown scored by Kauffman in round three, the remaining frames came down to style preference. Some were more definitive than others.

The three judges all had rounds 1-3 and 6-11 scored the same, while split on the 4th, 5th and 12th round.

Arreola was awarded rounds 1, 2, 5, 6, 10 and 11 on all three scorecards. Kauffman swept rounds 3, 4, 7, 8 and 9, with round three scored 10-8 due to the bout's lone knockdown when he caught Arreola with a right hand shot upstairs.

Judges Perez and Esperon agreed on 11 of the 12 rounds scored. In addition to the nine rounds scored unanimously, both judges awarded the 4th to Kauffman and the 5th to Arreola. Dorsett was the dissenting vote on those two rounds, seeing Arreola rebound from a disastrous knockdown frame to win the 4th, while scoring the 5th in favor of Kauffman.

The widest disparity in rounds scored came between Esperon and Dorsett, as they had opposing viewpoints on all three swing rounds.

Meanwhile, Perez and Dorsett only agreed on one of the three swing rounds. It was the most crucial frame, as both scored the decisive 12th round in favor of Arreola, while Esperon had Kauffman winning the final three-minute frame and thus the fight.

The decision wasn't at all well-received by the crowd on hand. The night began with Arreola as the house favorite, but Kauffman managed to draw a few cheers by night's end.

Arreola moved to 37-4-1 (31KOs), although his current three-fight unbeaten streak has managed to raise more questions than provide answers. A knockout loss to Bermane Stiverne last May - his second defeat to Stiverne in 13 months - seemed to forever knock him out of the title picture.

His 2015 campaign was intended a bounceback tour, but has struggled in an eight-round decision over journeyman Curtis Harper, a 10-round draw with Fred Kassi and now a split nod over Kauffman.

Meanwhile, Kauffman's stock rose in defeat. His record is now 30-2 (22KOs), but more than held his own in by far his toughest test to date.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox