Boxing Robbery: Damaen Kelly

Three blind mice spotted in Belfast.

By Frank Maloney

Were the three blind mice judging the European title fight in Belfast on Friday night? No disrespect to Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder but even they could have seen Damaen Kelly had won that fight, he has been certainly been robbed of a European title.

Last year 20 million was robbed from a bank in Belfast but Friday nights decision was an even bigger robbery of a mans livelyhood.

I have re-watched the fight over and over again since it happened on Friday night, not for the sheer enjoyment of the fight as it was in no way a classic bout but because I wanted to make sure I was not going blind. I gave Maludrottu the European champion three rounds and could be kind and give him a share of a couple more but what ever way I look at it even with my eyes closed there is no way that Damaen Kelly didn’t win that fight.

I had the upmost respect for the EBU but I would like them to explain how the supervisor on the night told the judges to score the contest how they could score for the Italian who was missing with most of his punches and being caught every time he came in. For the purists of the sport it was a masterclass from Kelly a real exhibition of the art of boxing.

I was involved in one of the worst decisions in World boxing when Lennox Lewis was adjudged to have only drawn with Evander Holyfield at the Madison Square Garden back in March 1999 there was a worldwide outcry over this decision even diplomatic relationships with America could have been strained but the one on Friday night was far worse and maybe UKIP the poliitcal party who want us to come out of Europe are right or maybe because Kelly is only a flyweight it seems to have been forgotten about already.

I believe the interview by Charlie Giles the chairman of the British Boxing of Control was a masterclass in political correctness and how not to offend your neighbours he did not seem to want to point the finger of blame at anyone but as licence holders we pay the British Board of
Control to protect our interests in the sport and I hope now that Charlie Giles and the BBBoC will call for an investigation into this disgraceful standard of judging, maybe the old british method was right at least then it was down to one man’s decision, three people didn’t get it wrong.

I have a number of European title fights coming up and I have noted the names of the three judges involved on Friday and I will make sure that they are not appointed to any of my shows until they taken an eye tests and I will want to know the criteria for the judging before any of my fighters step into the ring.

This type of judging does nothing for boxing, with so many Mickey Mouse titles around and the calibre of judges being called into question when you get this type of judging from a respectable organisation like the EBU you have to ask is it the calibre of judges or were they just incompetent on the night.