Reflections: Chin up Fabio Wardley

Reflections: Chin up

GBN's Donald C Stewart reflects on Fabio Wardley's devastating defeat to Dubois and the rest of the weekend's controversial moments in boxing

Yet another weekend of boxing has brought as many controversies that shall give Zuffa Boxing, those the great disruptors of the sport a chance to rub their hands in glee demonstrating once more that perhaps all is not well within the sweet science.

Even before the rematch between Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois, live on DAZN, there were many in the industry suggesting that Wardley was coming back far too early. It has perhaps been proven to be exactly the case as he didn't manage to get past the second round with trainer Ben Davison throwing in the towel.

We can discount any controversy around Don Charles' comments regarding Davison being a puppy in the sport of dogs.

But the punishment that Wardley sustained in the first fight, well documented in an interesting article around punishment in the ring, by Chris McKenna and Sarah Shepherd in The Athletic, was never far from anyone’s mind.

Some noted the noticeable scar on Wardley’s nose, others suggested he did not look good, and a few thought that him having to speak for both fighters in the build up as Dubois mutters much and says little, had made him overtired.

And as for the game plan, as Steve Bunce asked, what game plan?

To see the dangers of the sport, you need no go no further than the picture that headlines The Athletic’s article with Fabio Wardley sustaining serious punishment with the Rocky-style distortion of his face there for everyone to see.

Wardley came out of the first contest with much credit, and back in with his chin held high and battered, once more has seen more opinions being pronounced that he should now retire.

It took mere minutes for him to be wiped from the elite as Filip Hrgovic jumped into the ring to square off against Dubois suggesting that Hrgovic is looking for a rematch.

Perhaps overlooking the fact that he has a mandatory challenger to dispense with first, Hrgovic knows that nothing hangs about for the fighters in boxing so they should not hang about either.

Overlooking opponents is hardly new, nor is being robbed.

Michael Gomez Jr. went into the final round of his fight for the British and Commonwealth lightweight titles against Louie O'Doherty.

O defending champion, O'Doherty was, according to people at the side of the ring, four or five rounds down needing at least several knockdowns if not a stoppage to win. Don't listen to me, Carl Frampton, Darren Barker, Adam Smith and Andy Lee all felt that that was the case. It ended with a majority draw. According to Gomez Jr, after he calmed down, not only did he feel robbed, but he philosophically said he wasn't the first and he won't be the last to feel like that. He will take some time to go over it and got support from Tyson Fury who called it out as a blatant robbery.

Gomez Jr may come back and claim the title with a sense of urgency – boxing does not wait around etc., etc. – perhaps at the early part of 2027 but this does not do the sport much good.

Prior to that we had the other controversy over the throwing in of a towel. Dan Garber's corner threw it, not once, not twice but three times but this lady refused the first two. When the third one hit the deck British Boxing Board of Control referee Amy Pu, noticeable not least because she is female but also because she was born in Taiwan, called the whole thing off. Lu’s gender and ethnicity makes her a minority in the sport and given the furore around Ian John Lewis years ago, being removed from the British Boxing Board of Control's referee circuit, and then claiming inherent racism, it is important that Pu is looked after and supported – unless she got it wrong.

According to the rules, the referee is the one who calls the fight off during a round. When the first two towels hit the deck, Pu judged that she and the boxer himself believed that he was fit to continue. When the third one came in, it was after former Olympian and current prospect heavyweight Adam Olaniyan had battled Garber once more and that was enough for Pu to call a halt.

Given that Garber is not a prospect and requires to fight as often as he can you can understand why a referee might give them a little bit of leeway but also given the fact that it was a fight that Gerber was unlikely to win perhaps that should have tipped the scales towards saving the fighter for another day. It’s a judgment call and although Garber did receive oxygen in the ring, he managed to walk out of it and get to his dressing room with no ill effects noted thereafter.

Meanwhile Shakur Stevenson has decided, after three months, that he's not going to be one of Zuffa’s trademark signings no more and has escaped his contract.

Perhaps Zuffa are less the great disruptors, but more the great pretenders?

However, they can celebrate persuading Nico Ali Walsh, after his spirited presentation in defence of the Ali Act, swapping sides and backing an amendment to the Ali Act. (The Americans do like their amendments but sometimes don't seem to understand what the word amendment actually means…)