By Monwabisi Jimlongo
It’s easy to figure out why Eldorado Park-based boxer Melissa Miller is both sad and disappointed after Boxing South Africa (BSA) overturned the verdict of her fight against Sharadene Fortuin.
Miller was declared the winner and the new South African female bantamweight champion following her fight against Fortuin at the East London International Convention Centre (ICC) on Sunday, only for the outcome of the duel to be changed to a draw on Wednesday.
The initial verdict of the bout got changed after erratic BSA provincial manager in the Eastern Cape and fight supervisor Phakamile Jacobs admitted that he had made an error while tallying the score cards.
Miller had, according to two score cards, won the fight by a split decision after judges Lulama Mtya and Thandi Ngodwana had her winning by 95-94 and 97-93 respectively while Allen Matakane gave the duel to Fortuin (96-94).
“When they called us they said they were going to make it a draw because their provincial manager had made a mistake. I feel this is their way of sabotaging me. I don’t believe that he made a mistake. I believe it’s their way of cooking up the score cards,” a disappointed Miller said.
The 37-year-old Miller made it clear that she’s not afraid of fighting against Fortuin for the fifth time as long as she will enter the ring as the champion.
“I’ll fight against her only if I’m the champion. I worked very hard to win that fight. I still believe that there was no error from the gentleman who is their provincial manager,” Miller remarked.
“They are trying to push an agenda. How is it possible that they never saw the error or mistake on Monday or Tuesday? They came to us after three days saying they had made a mistake, that’s impossible. There was never an error to start with. It’s their way of fighting Sharadene’s battle.”
A statement from BSA on Wednesday afternoon said: “Boxing South Africa would like to inform boxing stakeholders and the public with regards to the incorrect calculation and decision on the South African female bantamweight title fight between Sharadene Fortuin (champion) and Melissa Miller (challenger). The fight was held at East London ICC on Sunday, 2 July 2023 and Melissa Miller was incorrectly announced as the winner and champion by a split decision. Upon verification and scrutiny of the score cards, the three judges scored the fight as follows: judge Matakane scored the fight (96-94) – Fortuin, judge Mtya scored the fight (95-95) – draw, judge Ngodwana scored the fight (93-97) – Miller. This therefore means the decision announced on Sunday is annulled and the correct decision for this fight is a draw and the champion Sharadene Fortuin must retain her title.
“The fight supervisor provided an incorrect decision to be announced and it is appropriate that the error be rectified to promote fair play in the sport. We wish to humbly apologise to Miller and team for this inconvenience. Boxing South Africa will follow-up with internal consequence management.”
