WBO orders review but verdict stays

Neutral judges to watch fight video sans sound

MANILA, Philippines -  The World Boxing Organization has agreed to review the scoring of the Manny Pacquiao-Jeff Horn welterweight title bout after the Philippine world champion’s shock loss, but the verdict will stand.

The WBO announced the move on its website after Pacquiao, backed by Games and Amusements Board (GAB), criticized the referee and the judges and demanded a review of the fight. The GAB has also called for potential sanctions on the referee and judges of the July 2 Brisbane bout if warranted.

But the WBO said sanctions could only be imposed on the officials if the GAB could provide any evidence “indicating fraud or violations of the law.”

Francisco Valcarcel, WBO president, wrote GAB chairman Abraham Mitra the other day, urging the regulatory body for all professional sports in the Philippines to forward any evidence it could obtain to the Australian National Boxing Federation and the WBO.

“So that we may proceed accordingly,” said Valcarcel.

Otherwise, the decision of the judges in last Sunday’s “Battle of Brisbane” awarding the 29-year-old Horn a unanimous decision and the WBO welterweight crown stays.

“We must make it clear that an official’s discretion, whether judge or referee, is irrevocable. The decision of an official should only be revoked when fraud or violations of the law occur,” the WBO chief from Puerto Rico said in his letter to Mitra.

Nonetheless, the WBO will appoint five anonymous and competent judges from different countries to watch the bout without sound distraction.

“Then we will tabulate the results to ascertain clearly which rounds each fighter won using an average scale based on 60, 80 and 100 percent. This means that 3 of 5 officials have to agree to determine which fighter won the round,” the WBO letter also stated.

Valcarcel said “the purpose of this review is to be able to give the fans certainty of who was the winner of the bout, even though we do not have the power to reverse the decision of the judges based on discretion and, in this case, we do have a rematch clause on the fight contract,” it added.

Pacquiao, who suffered a bitter loss before a live audience of 51,502 and millions from around the world, said he’s ready to exercise the rematch clause.

“There will be a rematch,” he told Filipino scribes the day after the loss.

Horn, now being hailed as a hero in Australia for pulling off the stunning upset over the Filipino boxing legend, welcomed the challenge of a rematch, and his camp said if the rematch happens they will beat Pacquiao by a wider margin.”

Fight promoter Bob Arum said he would work on the rematch once Pacquiao formally informs him of his intention to continue fighting amid calls for him to permanently retire from boxing. – With report from AFP