Oshaquie Foster was shocked after losing his world title to Robson Conceição and immediately demanded a rematch.
Foster was defending his WBC super featherweight title against Conceição on the undercard of the Shakur Stevenson vs. Artem Harutyunyan fight in Newark.
The American outplayed and dominated rival Conceição, who seemed consumed by the fact that he fell short in his world title ambitions.
But to everyone's surprise, the judges were divided, awarding the challenger a highly controversial victory.
On the scorecards, Foster was fairly scored 116-112, but the other two judges surprisingly scored the bout in the challenger's favor, 116-112 and 115-113.
After the gong sounded, the uncrowned champion was close to tears, visibly shaken by the controversial decision.
He was furious in the post-fight interview and had no understanding of why he had been denied another chance to defend his title.
“I thought it was a shutout. I thought it was an easy game,” Foster said after the game.
“I couldn't touch him except for the headbutt. I don't know. They took this fight from me.”
He added: “I'll be back, but I want a rematch. They took this opportunity away from me. They took this fight away from me. I just wanted to show the world that I can beat them. I don't need to be untouchable if that's what I want to do. I guess it wasn't good enough for the judges.”
Fans were outraged and confused by the verdict, but the entire boxing world shared the same view.
Boxer Regis Prograis posted on Twitter: “I think we just witnessed one of the greatest robberies in boxing history.”
“[Foster] He won every round. He won literally every round and then they gave it to the other guy. “How's that?”
“Did I miss something in the Foster fight?” former world champion Jamel Herring said.
Fans agreed, with one writing: “Robbed. Foster 11-1 in boxing class.”
Another agreed, adding: “The three didn't watch the game but unfortunately they held all the results in their hands.”
“It's really despicable that the sports world is allowing something like this to happen.”
However, one final fan tried to explain the decision, concluding: “He scored for Foster, but he didn't score as big as some people think.”
“Foster was under-active throughout the game, forcing opponents who should have been easy winners to hang on.
“A lot of times nothing good happens there.”
His punch statistics reflected his superiority, outscoring his rival 109-76 after 12 rounds.
Foster is likely to appeal or seek immediate amends against his sure-to-be-unsuccessful rival.
