Sports
‘Boxing Needs VAR’
Boxing needs to use video technology to help officials, says leading promoter Eddie Hearn.
Britain’s Charlie Edwards appeared to be losing his WBC flyweight belt when he was counted out against Mexico’s Julio Martinez in London at the weekend.
But the fight was ruled a no-contest when big-screen replays showed Martinez had punched Edwards in the ribs when his knee and glove were on the canvas.
“Essentially it was VAR for boxing and it was 100% right,” said Hearn.
Video assistant referees (VAR) have been introduced in Premier League football this season to adjudicate on goals, penalties and potential red cards while cricket uses technology to judge on wickets, and tennis utilises the Hawk-Eye system to see if the ball landed in.
During the third round of Saturday’s fight at the O2 Arena, Martinez hit Edwards – defending the title for the second time, with a number of head and body shots, forcing the Briton to put a glove and knee on the canvas.
As soon as that happened, fighting should have stopped with the referee starting a count and the other boxer moving to one of the corners. Martinez, however, struck Edwards in the ribs again and the Londoner, rolling in pain, was counted out.
The capacity crowd booed Martinez when the replays were shown on 12 big screens, again when he was announced as the winner, and also during his post-fight interview.
After seeing the replays, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman overruled the decision from ringside, declaring the bout a ‘no-contest’.
“It [the punch] was so late it was next week,” said Hearn. “When they played it back it was that bad they were able to make a decision instantly. I didn’t expect them to do it and I’ve not seen anything like it.
“The WBC have a rule with video replays – they like to have it in-play but the British Boxing Board of Control and some other commissions do not.
“But with all the screens up it was easy for the president to say ‘it’s a no contest, I don’t need to review it or go before a committee – it’s my decision’.
“I don’t see a downside of doing it in a sport where there’s so much on the line.”
Sulaiman immediately ordered a rematch, and Edwards felt the change of verdict was correct.
“I took a knee for a purpose,” added the Londoner. “He finished me off with a body shot and I couldn’t recover.
“Cheaters never prosper. We get in this ring to abide by the rules.”
The result means Edwards retained his belt and his record of 15 wins and one loss.
Since the introduction of VAR in the Premier League, there has been criticism of the length of the delays, on occasion it has taken up to two minutes before a decision has been made on the validity of a goal. Hearn said decisions would be much quicker in fights.
“It’s not like it will slow boxing down, that’s what people say about football and cricket,” said Hearn.
“The media and everyone is talking about it and it’s a question where fans will say ‘why not?’
“There’s maybe too much VAR in football but it would be minimal cases in boxing, they wouldn’t refer to it every round but where it’s an important decision and something that could affect someone’s career and livelihood.
“If you lose a belt you are no longer champion and it’s the difference between making £1m and £50,000, we have to get it right.”
England captain Harry Kane netted a hat-trick to guide Bayern Munich to an impressive victory against Stuttgart.
Kane’s goals, plus one from Kingsley Coman, helped Bayern end a three-game winless run in all competitions.
They faced a tough task against a Stuttgart side who sat back and limited their chances, leading Vincent Kompany’s side to enter the break frustrated and with the deadlock unbroken.
Bayern eventually found a way past Stuttgart’s steely defence when Kane drilled a low effort into the bottom corner from around 30 yards out after Joshua Kimmich overturned possession.
Former Nigeria goalkeeper, Dosu Joseph, is full of thanks to God after he miraculously survived another life-threatening automobile accident recent at Kara, along the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way, where a heavy-duty truck ran into his SUV.
Narrating his ordeal, the 51-year-old, who guided Nigeria to gold in the Men’s Football Tournament of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, broke the news in a statement on his social media handles on Friday.
“To God be the glory, another death escaped by Grace and Mercy of God. Me and my friend SM were at Enyo Filling Station after Ojodu Berger bus stop to get fuel on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, around 6 p.m. when this MACK truck fully loaded with iron, with registration number LND 470 XX, left the road and crushed my car beyond repairs. Thank God for life,” he stated.
This is the second time the soft-spoken club proprietor will cheat death by a whisker, having been involved in an accident in 1997 that ended his career at 23 and left his spinal cord in bad shape.
He helped Julius Berger win the Nigeria FA Cup in November 1997 shortly a memorable Olympic outing by keeping a clean sheet in the finals against Katsina United. The following year, he was involved in the auto along Ikorodu Road, Lagos, which not only cut his career short but also left him almost paralysed, ending his spell at Serie A club Reggiana.
The former Nigeria international, who also kept goal for Julius Berger FC, said the case has been reported to Isheri Police Station, Ogun State, where the driver is currently detained and the truck also seized.
According to him, the owner of the truck said he can’t fix the badly damaged SUV until after a year.
Ex – Super Eagles of Nigeria, Okwuchukwu Waobikeze has observed that sports development in Nigeria is going down.
According to him, grassroots sports is very important, without it, the administrators cannot get it right. So everybody should key into grassroots sports development, he said.
Waobikeze said this last Wednesday in an interview with sports journalists shortly after the Port Harcourt All Stars Independence football festival (OCTOBERFEST) at the Port Harcourt club, Rivers State.
He explained that for sports administrators to get it right, grassroots development is key. “They should be organising competition at the grassroots level to fish out the young ones for different sporting activities.
“Grassroots sports is very important so the administrators have to go back to the grassroots.
” Sports Development in Nigeria is going down we need to go back to the basics.
“Look at the just concluded Paris Olympics, Nigeria did not win any medal.
” Our football team did not even qualify for the Olympics. We are going down.
” If they should go back to the grassroots, they will get young ones in the games and talents will be developed.
” I started from school games, to youth games before playing for the national team. Now everybody wants to fly board to play professional football and a lot do not know the basics of the game.
” A lot of people did not know the little things about the game, they just want to play. It is not done so,” Waobikeze stated.
Kiadum Edookor