If World Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaiman has his way, six judges will score the May 18th undisputed heavyweight title fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury.
“What we saw in Saudi Arabia last week was another example of how vulnerable referees continue to be around the world,” Sulaiman told BoxingScene on Thursday.
Sleiman primarily held his belt against Nick Ball in a split draw, despite his organization's featherweight champion Rey Vargas getting knockdowns in the eighth and 11th rounds. I was mentioning that.
The superiority of Vargas' boxing in the early rounds led judge Massimo Barrovecchio to believe Mexico won 114-112, but judge John Behrim ruled the fight a 116-110 victory for Ball. Judge Ray Danseco scored it 113-113.
“I saw one judge win big on one side, and then another judge let the other judge win,” Sulaiman lamented. “Controversies like Fury vs. Usyk will kill boxing.”
So Sulaiman said he has circulated an emergency petition asking the WBO, WBA, IBF, Fury and Usyk and their promoters to install a six-judge panel for the title fight in Saudi Arabia.
The theory is that with a large number of judges, the impact of one or two bad scorecards will be minimized.
The proposal was deemed unlikely to be accepted, and even Mr Sulaiman admitted that previous proposals on the issue had met with “a lot of resistance”.
Still, he hopes the introduction of a six-person panel for “big, big fights” will see the system continue in boxing.
“Fighting, especially fighting at this highest level, deserves this. That is why I am now putting this proposal forward to all sanctioning bodies, promoters and fighters,” Sulaiman said.
He said all parties involved would need to approve a panel of six judges for it to take place on fight night. Sulaiman said two judges will be placed on either side of the ring where broadcasters will not be seated.
“It has to be something we all agree on,” Sulaiman said.
He has yet to receive a formal response to his request from Fury, the WBC champion, or Usyk, who stood in the WBC champion's shoes when he was once the undisputed cruiserweight champion.
