WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman has confirmed that the WBC will continue their push to have six judges ringside for the rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury and other WBC title fights.
Sulaiman campaigned for six judges to be present for Fury and Usyk’s first encounter last month [May 18] to ensure there was no controversial result. The campaign was met with resistance from rival sanctioning bodies and the promoters of the event, meaning only the traditional three judges were in place.
Now the WBC boss has confirmed that plans will continue for there to be six present at ringside for the rematch between Fury and Usyk as well as other WBC title fights.
“I will campaign for the WBC fights to [have six judges for] those who are eligible, and we are going to start doing it,” Sulaiman told Casino Reviews. “It came down to the other organisations and the promoters not supporting the idea so we will do it as usual in the WBC fights. We have done a few in Mexico and will continue doing so in WBC fights and we will monitor it and see how things go.”
The idea behind for six judges to be present for the undisputed title fight between Fury and Usyk was to ensure the rightful winner had his hand raised. The fight turned out to be extremely tight and the scorecards reflected that on the night, with Usyk walking out a narrow winner via split decision. Sulaiman believes the right man had his hand raised.
“Yes [I was happy with the scorecards], it was a very close fight,” Sulaiman said. “It came down to the 11th round and it was scored in favor of Oleksandr Usyk by two judges, one of them in Mike Fitzgerald and Mike Metcalfe scored it in favor of Tyson Fury. So, if Metcalfe scored it for Usyk rather than Fury it would’ve been a unanimous decision for Usyk. If Fitzgerald had scored it to Fury then he would’ve won the fight so the rounds were very close, that one in particular.
“A huge left hand at the end of the round by Usyk was a statement. Scoring is subject, it’s a complicated task but I believe a split decision win for Usyk is more than fair and acceptable. Our position is to always have the best possibilities to avoid a controversy and that’s why we wanted six judges.”
Read the full article here
