Boxing SA keeps ring officials on their toes as they rescore old fights

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Controversial decisions have long been common in boxing.

The judges will see a fight one way, but the fans and media might see the result differently. Sometimes there is an honest difference of opinion in a truly close fight. Other times, there are scores widely deemed as outrageous, and there have been various remedies suggested over the years.

Boxing SA’s provincial manager in KwaZulu-Natal, Mlungisi Dube, keeps ring officials on their toes by having them score old fights whose outcomes were deemed controversial.

A former boxing trainer, manager, matchmaker, and promoter, Dube said: “Mainly between May and August, we find ourselves without tournaments, so we keep ourselves sharp by scoring old fights.”

Just recently Dube asked officials to score the WBO world junior-flyweight match-up between Masibulele “Hawk” Makepula and Jacob “Baby Jake” Matlala, which Makepula won unanimously by points at Carnival City in Brakpan in February 2000.

Matlala, his fans, and some officials condemned the decision.

Promoter Rodney Berman, who staged the bout, said the margin was a bit heavy, suggesting that Makepula had done enough to win.

“Out of the eight ring officials, four scored it in favour of Makepula,” said Dube.

“I also gave them a similar assignment in a fight between Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, which Barrera won by majority decision on November 27 2004.

“There was a lot of talk about it.”

He says four scored it in favour of Barrera, and the others favoured Morales. These are accomplished Mexican boxing idols.

“It was a close fight, and I was happy with their scoring, just as I was with the Matlala-Makepula fight,” said Dube.

Dubious scoring and controversial ring officiating have reached what critics describe as a pandemic.

BSA held a two-day training session with ring officials in Bloemfontein in July to address an unprecedented wave of poor officiating, controversial scoring decisions and many formal appeals lodged by boxers and managers.

But not all the provinces were present.

“I think what was done needs to be supplemented at the provincial level because two days was not enough,” said Dube.

“Even seven days won’t be enough if you take a ring official who has not scored a fight in six months.”

That is the case with ring officials from Limpopo, North West, Kimberly and the Free State, where boxing matches are scarce.