Two European ring officials, who reviewed last Friday’s World Boxing Federation (WBF) Intercontinental bantamweight title contest between reigning champion Akani Sambu and Sabelo Cebekhulu have reached a different outcome to the original fight result.
According WBF president Howard Goldberg, after watching the video of the fight, the officials scored it in favour of Cebekhulu even though the outcome of Friday’s clash is not going to be changed. The review followed after there was an uproar about the outcome of the fight with many boxing fans saying Cebekhulu had been robbed.
Two judges from Limpopo – Mike Phiri and Gezani Hlungwani – scored the fight in favour of Sambu with their scorecards reading 95-93 and 97-91 respectively while Pumeza Zinakile had Cebekhulu winning by 95-93.
“We asked two European judges to review the fight and they felt that Cebekhulu had won by a small margin. The decision of the fight remains the same. We have strongly recommended a rematch with neutral officials,” Goldberg said.
Last Friday’s fight was promoted by Modipadi Kgasago’s Mama Rocks Boxing Promotions at the Khoroni Hotel Casino in Thohoyandou. – Monwabisi Jimlongo