The Cyber Boxing Zone Newswire


WBC PRESIDENT STATES CASE REGARDING LEWIS-HOLYFIELD
World Boxing Council President Jose Sulaiman issued the following statement Tuesday afternoon regarding the controversial scoring for last Saturday's fight between Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield.

LENNOX PROVED HIMSELF

"We are very proud of WBC heavyweight world champion Lennox Lewis, and are extremely disappointed that he was unfairly deprived of his clear victory over Evander Holyfield on Saturday night.  Despite the scoring, the world now confirms what we have said all along, that the true heavyweight champion of the world. is in fact the WBC champion Lennox Lewis."

NEUTRALITY AMONG JUDGES

"When two boxers of different nationalities fight for a championship, WBC rules call for neutrality by appointing judges of different nationalities than those of the fighters.   The WBC was expecting all three judges to be appointed from neutral countries, as stated in our rules, and WBA President Gilberto Mendoza and I agreed on this."

WBC PROTESTED JEAN WILLIAMS AS JUDGE

"The WBA appointed Stanley Christodoulou from South Africa and the WBC appointed Daniel Van De Wiele from Belgium.  But the IBF appointed Eugenia Williams from the United States.  The WBC asked Tony Russo, executive officer of the New York Athletic Commission, to convey to the IBF our request to replace Ms. Williams with a neutral judge who had more experience, but Mr. Russo replied that she had already been confirmed by the IBF and approved by the New York Athletic Commission."

BRITISH JURIST THEN CHOSEN

The WBC, in representing our champion, considered it very inappropriate to have two ring officials from the U.S., the referee and one judge, and none from our champion's home country, and had Larry O'Connell from Great Britain as an alternative, because an American judge was named."

ON LONGTIME "ACE" OFFICIAL

"Mr. O'Connell is one of the most prestigious and experienced ring officials in the world and is known for his integrity, competency and impartiality, and we must assume that he went overboard to prove it.  The WBC respectfully disagrees with his scoring of the fight."

WHAT WAS SHE WATCHING?

"The fifth round could have been scored 10-8 in favor of Lewis, who pounded Holyfield with countless devastating punches.  For a judge to score it in favor of Holyfield, as Miss Williams did, needs a lot of explaining.  My own guess is that she scored that way due to a lack of experience for a fight of this magnitude as well as excessive favoritism for the fighter of her own nationality."

WBC RULES SHINES

"We want to point out that Mr. Christodoulou, the only neutral judge, was the only one who scored right, proving that the WBC's rule for neutrality is the best for boxing justice."

REMATCH?

"The WBC will strongly recommend a mandatory rematch if WBC champion Lennox Lewis is still looking for the other two belts.  It was proven on Saturday beyond a doubt that he is the authentic world heavyweight champion."

NEXT TIME DO IT THE RIGHT (WBC) WAY

"We feel that if there is a rematch, the rules must be more clearly stated by the boxing organizations and local commission.  There seemed to be little authority or supervision on Saturday.  The WBC supervisor was not given a seat next to the other supervisors and could not supervise any events regarding the fight, the judges used different score cards, and the boxers wore "different" brands of gloves."

LASTLY

"We believe that the other two organizations agree with us on a rematch."

Jose Sulaiman
President, World Boxing Council

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