International Boxing Organization (IBO) President Edward S. Levine has ordered the immediate review of the video recording of the Junior Bantamweight Championship fight between Filipino Edrin Dapudong and South African held in Johannesburg Nov. 10.
Buthelezi, a former world champion, was pummeled and knocked down by Dapudong in the 9th round but was declared the new IBO world champion by a split decision prompting Dapudong’s patron and manager, former North Cotabato Governor Manny Pinol, to file a formal complaint against American judge Michael Pernick for alleged anomalous scoring, especially Round 9 which he scored 10-9 in favor of the Filipino.
Boxing rules state that a knockdown is scored 10-8 in favor of the boxer who scores a knockdown, unless the downed fighter is able to recover during the round by punishing his opponent severely to warrant the reduction of the scoring advantage to 10-9.
In a letter sent to Gov. Pinol, Levine said a panel of highly respected judges will review and score the fight and submit their scoring to the IBO.
An order on whether to order a rematch or not will be made within 10 days following the review, Levine said in his letter to Gov. Pinol.
Levine, however, rejected the request of the former North Cotabato Governor to suspend Penick as an IBO sanctioned boxing judge pending the result of the investigation.
Penick, who scored the fight 115-113 in favor of Buthelezi, was one of the two neutral judges in the championship fight. Briton Reg Thompson had Dapudong winning the fight 114-113 while South African judge Tony Nyangiwe had his countryman winning by 115-112.
Both Thompson and Nyangiwe, who was obviously biased in favor of Buthelezi, correctly scored the 9th round knockdown 10-8 for Dapudong.
Confronted by Gov. Pinol the morning after the fight, Penick bragged that he had judged over 60 world championship fights, including the Manny Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton bout which ended in Round 2.
He also boasted that he had lectured in boxing officiating seminars for the IBO and said that his score of 10-9 in Round 9 when Dapudong knocked down Buthelezi was “how I saw the fight.”
He further justified his 10-9 score by saying that “even if I scored it 10-8, your boy would still have lost” because of the two point advantage he gave Buthelezi.
Gov. Pinol, however, pointed out that had Penick scored the first three rounds correctly, where Dapudong badly battered and bloodied Buthelezi who reeled on the ropes all throughout, the scoring would have been 114-113 in favor of Dapudong.
Penick’s and Nyangiwe’s judgement on the fight was questioned by the South African media and even in an article which appeared in the website of Golden Gloves South Africa which said Buthelezi was badly battered and bloodied “but got lucky with the judges.”
Pinol did not file a complaint against Nyangiwe saying that he knew from the very start that the South African judge would be biased in favor of Buthelezi and that he should take the blame for “allowing a thief to guard (his) jewelry.”
Here is the letter of IBO President Levine to Gov. Pinol:
“Dear Mr. Pinol,
Receipt is herein acknowledged of your formal complaint regarding the subject IBO World Championship fight.
You have formally asked for the following actions from the IBO.
1.) An immediate review of the video recorded fight between Dapudong and Buthelezi to be conducted by an impartial panel of boxing judges.
This request has been granted. The IBO will impanel three highly respected IBO licensed boxing judges to independently review and score the fight.
2.) The immediate suspension of Mr. Pernick as an IBO boxing judge pending the results of the review of the video.
This request is denied.
3.) Should the IBO review panel conclude that the judging in the fight was irregular that an order for a rematch be issued.
The IBO Championships Committee will review the scoring of the appointed panel and issue their decision within ten days.
I trust this meets with your approval.
Kind Regards,
Ed Levine
IBO President
Cc: John Daddono – IBO Chairman”
Photo shows IBO President Edward S. Levine with the WBO Champion’s belt.
November 13 2012
THE MANGLED FACE OF AMERICAN BOXING OFFICIATING
The mangled and disfigured face of South African Gideon Buthelezi, who was recently crowned IBO World Junior Bantamweight Champion even after he was mauled and knocked down by Filipino Edrin Dapudong Nov. 10 in Johannesburg, South Africa, may as well be the image that reflects the rotten state of judging in boxing involving American boxing officials. Prior to the scandalous scores in the Dapudong-Buthelezi fight made by American judge Michael Pernick where he scored the round when the South African was knocked down 10-9 instead of 10-8, American boxing officiating also suffered a battered reputation following the Paul Williams-Erislandy Lara and Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley fights. Allegations of corruption in the ranks of American boxing officials swirled because of the series of questionable decisions in boxing. (www.philboxing.com photo)
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