By Ricardo Lopez Juarez
May 25, 2024, 8:22 PM EDT
In the world of boxing you can expect anything. How about a scene in which a legendary 92-year-old promoter gets into the ring after a fight to loudly express his disagreement with the judges’ decision?
Well, that’s exactly it what Bob Arum did this Saturday in England after the fight between the Englishman Jack Catterall and the Scotsman Josh Taylorwhom Arum promotes through his company Top Rank.
The fight held in Leeds was tough and competitive. After 12 rounds, the judges gave the victory to Jack Catterall by unanimous decision over Josh Taylor by 117-111, 117-111 and 116-113.
When Catterall was being interviewed on the DAZN broadcast, Arum took a microphone that was open and interrupted in the middle of the ring to everyone’s surprise..
“Hey, I saw the fight like everyone else. Those score cards were a disgrace, an absolute disgrace,” Arum said, provoking boos from the fans who mostly supported Catterall and smiles from Eddie Hearn, the British promoter who was next to the English fighter also known as “The Cat.” ”.
“And I really feel bad for Josh. I think he won the fight. But those tickets were ridiculous,” continued the agitated Arum, one of the most important boxing promoters in history, who then made a promise:
“Never I will never allow a fighter from the United States to come here with this British commission scoring the fight. “Those scores were ridiculous.”
Josh Taylor’s team had warned about the judges
It is worth mentioning that before the fight, Josh Taylor’s camp had expressed concern about an unfair ruling by the judges after two years ago his fighter was the beneficiary in a disputed split decision over Catterall in Scotland to defend his super lightweight world championships. . Saturday’s fight was not for a world title.
It is the second defeat in a row for Taylor (19-2), since last June he fell in New York against Teófimo López. Catterall improved to 29-1 as a professional.
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