In a shocking turn of events, Corinne ‘Sexy Panther’ De Groot is to file a protest to the Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA) following her defeat by a unanimous decision to Shondell The Mystery Lady’ Alfred in their bantamweight title clash on Saturday night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
Peter Abdool
According to president of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) Peter Abdool, De Groot’s team is arguing that Alfred was sent four times to the canvas and that at least two of those times, she was legitimately knocked down but referee Eion Jardine called them all ‘slips’.
“Well, we haven’t received it (the protest) officially in writing as yet but it is on the way. Actually, they are to send it to Ryan (Wissow) who has the final say in everything that goes on with the WIBA since he as you know, is the president of that organization,” the GBBC boss added.
“From my point of view at this time, I personally can’t say anything more than that they would have to review the tape. As we speak, I don’t have the tape in my possession but hopefully before the night (last night) is out so we can get it (the tape) up to him so we can get this thing over with,” said Abdool.
Abdool, who is also the president of the Caribbean Boxing Federation (COBOFE) said that nothing could not be done at the moment without a proper review of the footage.
“I saw the fight and I know what I saw and I think most if not all of it was relayed in the various newspapers and so on. You know, sometimes you really can’t trust your eyes,” Abdool said jokingly.
He reaffirmed that Wissow would have to give the final verdict after a video of the fight was reviewed.
Asked what could be the possible outcome if the claims are found to be true, Abdool said: “If they found materials on the footage that maybe the referee had made a mistake or claims of what they are arguing, the most that could happen is that they would make it mandatory for Shondell to give Corinne a rematch before she fights anyone else as the WIBA Champion.
“But like I said, the final say is with Ryan (Wissow) who is the WIBA President and this can only be done after the review of the tape from the fight,” Abdool concluded.
Judge Ian Alves scored the fight 99-90, Lionel Sullivan 97-94 and Trevor Arno 96-92 all in favour of Alfred.
With the win, Alfred became Guyana’s seventh world champion and the third female from Guyana to hold that distinction.
We have the unenviable reputation of being a corrupt country and love to thief…..something was very fishy from the report in the newspapers yesterday.
Bye, bye international title fights in Guyana. Gosh!!!
Like I indicated before, there were inconsistencies in the Alfred-DeGroot fight. Apart from the knockdown brouhaha, some other sinister occurrences took place to benefit the winner. Commission a thorough investigation, forthwith.
Remember last month’s fiasco in Trinidad where local fighter Ria Ramnarine was shockingly given the nod over Venezuela’s Ana Fernandez in a regional flyweight title fight. The judges stunned the crowd by awarding the fight to the outclassed Ramnarine.
Local fans attended the card to back their local star but ended the night pouring out their full support for the Venezuelan while expressing outrage at the judges’ scoring.
The bout had been prematurely stopped at the end of the ninth round because of an accidental head butt that damaged Ramnarine’s eye, and
Dr Calvin Inalsingh, the WBA supervisor, has launched an immediate investigation into the judging and has openly declared his astonishment at the scoring that favoured the local boxer. In the same vein, Trinidad and Tobago Boxing Board of Control member and bout supervisor Franchot Moore did not agree with the points win for Ramnarine. The protest by Degroot’s camp has merits … lots of merits.
Sadly, this happens quite a lot. Why can’t our referees and judges take their biases and prejudices out of it? It’s a shame. This has been going on since the 70’s (that’s as far I know) and probably longer. As soon as I read the reports of the fight, I knew that something was not right. If 2 of those knock downs were in different rounds the scorecard would have read: 95-92 for Alfred; 96-93 and 94-92 for De Groot. Judge Alves score of 99-90 – such a wide margin in favour of Alfred deserves scruting and probably a ban. Only recently a Guyanese fighter protested a loss in a South or Central American country and all the judges were banned.
This is why cricket went with neutral umpires. If our judges wants to get ahead, they will have to learn to be fair, even when one of their own is in the ring or on the field.
In boxing there are lots of controversies.Whatever…it happens