Xaba Promotions is lamenting tough financial costs following a draw between their boxer, Moyisi Booi, and Argentine David Nunez in an IBF Intercontinental junior bantamweight title bout at KuGompo City’s Orient Theatre on Friday.
And Argentine manager Santiago Bisieri is crying foul after it transpired that two judges had not credited Nunez for a knockdown in the ninth round, which could have swung the fight for the visitor.
Namibian judge Patrick Mukondiwa scored Booi winning 95-94, his compatriot, Patrick Eserhuizen, had the Argentine in front 95-93, and Mdantsane’s Phumeza Zinakile had both boxers an even 95-95, rendering the title still vacant.
After the fight, it was revealed that Mukondiwa and Zinakile had not credited Nunez when he put Booi on the canvas in the ninth round.
The two officials scored the round 10-9 and 10-10, respectively, instead of a potential 10-8.
Bisieri claimed he had been robbed, and confronted Boxing SA provincial manager Phakamile Jacobs and IBF supervisor Andre de Vries at the ringside, demanding a scorecard correction.
“My boy fought his heart out and deserved the results, but the officials denied him by not correctly tallying the scorecards.
“I will take this up with the IBF and petition them to do the right thing because what happened here is an injustice.”
XP boss Ayanda Matiti, meanwhile, bemoaned the costs of the draw, as he had to pay the IBF sanctioning fee for the title that ended up being vacant.
“I am not even talking about the costs of flying Nunez and his two handlers to the country, which were made more expensive by the Middle East war,” he said.
“But these are the costs that come with trying to secure these boys’ world title shots.”
Booi dominated the early rounds, often jolting Nunez’s head with stinging blows until he suddenly tired badly and stopped punching.
The South American took control as Booi held on for dear life, drawing numerous warnings from Johannesburg referee David van Nieuwenhuizen, who administered a count when Booi appeared to slip in the ninth round.
With Booi completely spent, he again tumbled to the canvas after a grazing shot in the tenth and last round, with Van Nieuwenhuizen again picking up the count.
It was a disappointing performance by Booi and ruthlessly exposed his poor conditioning, raising concerns about his tag as the future world champion in the division, whose ruler, Bam Rodriguez, is on the verge of giving up his throne and moving up to bantamweight.
Matiti said he had not watched the fight as he had been too busy attending to a skirmish involving spectators at the venue’s entrance.
“The few rounds I saw Booi was in control. I did not see the knockdowns, though I was informed one of them should have been ruled a slip,” he said.
Daily Dispatch
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