Ben Mahoney’s team are promising to take action over the dramatic finish to their IBF world title eliminator against Nikita Tszyu – with the gutsy Queensland underdog also stressing he won’t ever fight on a No Limit show again.
In response, No Limit boss Matt Rose has declared it’s his own superstar client who was wronged in the chaotic Gold Coast headliner eventually declared a split decision draw.
Moses v Hrgovic | Sunday August 30 from 3am AEST | Moses Itauma will seek to cement his place amid the leading heavyweight contenders when he faces Filip Hrgovic in London on August 30. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
Rose also told Mahoney and his promoter Mick Francis to “be very careful” with any push to have IBF officials review the scorecards, saying: “They might be in trouble if they do”.
Rose added his phone was already “blowing up” with text messages from boxing types around the world, all of whom were united in believing Tszyu had been robbed by ringside officials.
The promoter said Tim Tszyu had also reached out, declaring not only that his little brother had won the fight, but offering to “happily close Ben’s mouth” himself.
All of which followed a chaotic night inside the Gold Coast Convention Centre where Mahoney, as a $5.50 betting underdog, almost went and caused the biggest upset of the year against rising star Tszyu.
After 12 rounds of intense action, there was plenty of conjecture along press row about who had won the fight.
It was the same with the ringside judges, all three of whom produced scorecards with different results.
While judge Phillip Holliday awarded the fight to Tszyu 117-111, fellow official Sabrina Kerr scored it for Mahoney, 115-113. A third judge, Carl Zappia, scored the fight a draw, 114-114.
Apart from conjecture around the scorecards — with both teams convinced they had been wronged — there also appeared to be issues between the camps while still in the ring immediately after the fight.
Rose addressed the drama with media afterwards, which included his own brother George declaring “I wanna slap the s*** out of someone” before then exiting the ring, and subsequently the arena.
Elsewhere, Matt Rose also fired back at Tasman Fighters boss Francis for suggesting any rematch between Tszyu and Mahoney could not take place under the No Limit banner.
“What, it’s going to be on a Tasman card in front of 200 people?” Rose fired.
READ MORE
‘He edged it’: Nikita Tszyu’s shock admission after stunning DRAW
Hometown star tells off fuming locals as ‘rightful draw’ sparks instant Tszyu rematch call
‘Holy smokes’: Prodigy’s BRUTAL assault on ‘absolute demon’ as great predicts big future
Where to now after Tszyu v Mahoney draw? | 05:20
TEAM MAHONEY PROMISE LEGAL ACTION
If you thought Wednesday night’s action inside the ring was incredible, things got even better afterwards backstage — with Francis not only declaring his man the rightful winner, but promising to now take further action.
The Tasman Fighters boss specifically took aim at the scorecard submitted by Holliday and promised to demand action from the IBF in coming days.
“Phil Holliday, I don’t know what he was watching,” Francis said. “Those scores were way wide and I’m going to make an official enquiry about it because that’s not right.”
Nodding toward Mahoney seated beside him, the promoter continued: “This guy has worked his arse off. And to have a score that wide, I don’t know what he was watching. He hasn’t heard the end of it.”
Asked by a reporter to explain what he was seeing in the fight, given Tszyu had appeared to be hitting Mahoney with big shots, which could have resulted in rounds swinging his way, Francis said: “Well, you’ve got two other judges in there as well.
“And they didn’t see it that wide. One judge gave it to Benny. The other gave it a draw. He [Holliday] gave it 117-111. What was he watching? And what were you watching? That’s just a s*** question …”
Tszyu admits defeat as Rose FIRES up! | 03:52
TEAM TSZYU FIRE BACK
During his own turn before the press soon after, Matt Rose said he had scored the fight eight rounds to four in favour of Tszyu.
The No Limit boss also suggested his phone had been “blowing up” with messages from boxing types all over the world suggesting the same.
Told Team Mahoney were going to take further action, Rose appeared visibly shocked, warning: “They should be very careful, because they might be in a bit of trouble if they do.
“I’d be happy for them to challenge because I don’t think the scorecard of 115-113 was right at all. And that would mean Nikita wins the fight. So I’d be happy for the IBF to have a look at the judging. I’m confident in what that would result in.”
Asked his reaction when Kerr’s 115-113 scorecard was read, Rose continued: “I was shocked.
“But if you look at the judges, we had two very experienced judges, and one not very experienced judge. And the two very experienced judges didn’t go against Nikita.
“So if we’re going to point fingers at people, we’ll be happy for the IBF to look at the result. Because [if they do] it will probably go the other way.
“But we’ll accept the draw. At the end of the day, I’m not going to complain about the 115-113. That’s the decision they made and that’s how they saw it.”
THE ONLINE REACTION SUPPORTS TSZYU
Rose also responded to the Holliday scorecard by revealing it wasn’t far off his own.
“I had it eight-four to Nikita,” he said. “So what did he have it? Nine-three. Considering the amount of power punches that Nikita was hitting Ben with … the online reaction worldwide is that Nikita won the fight.
“I get the emotion of being in Mahoney’s hometown and people being emotionally attached to the underdog. And when the underdog performs like he does in any sport you feel a certain way.
“But when everyone in the room here goes back and looks at that fight again independently, you’ll probably see that Nikita won the fight.
“In saying that, we accept the draw. No one is in control of the judges. They make a decision on the night and it is what it is.
“But I can tell you now my phone is blowing up. The reaction from America and everywhere else is that Nikita won that fight.
“I even got a text off Tim. He said ‘Nikita won that fight’ and that he’d happily close Ben’s mouth up. We’ve had texts from everyone.”
Asked about large sections of the pro-Mahoney Gold Coast crowd booing the result, Rose added: “It’s disappointing the way the crowd reacted in the end. But they’ve paid their money and come along so we accept that. We get it.”
A REMATCH CAN’T BE WITH NO LIMIT
While Mahoney is open to a rematch, he says it cannot be on a No Limit card.
Asked about taking on Tszyu for a second time, he started: “We’ve got to sit down because I don’t run my own career, I’ve got a team, got management, I’ve got Mick here next to me who I have complete faith in.
“I’m happy for a rematch.
“I should be fighting for a world title now. We all know this. So we’ll look at our options. I’m open to it, but it’s sure as hell not going to be on another No Limit card.”
Back in 2023, Mahoney also fought Koen Mazoudier on a No Limit card, and was controversially awarded a split draw in a fight which the Queenslander again believed he had won.
Asked if that was part of his No Limit boycott moving forward, he said: “Yes.
“And it’s hard because I don’t want to throw any officials or judges under the bus. It’s very touchy with people and I respect everyone. But athletes put their lives on the line for this.
“We disappear from our families. I’ve got a new baby, man. And I’ve been in the gym for eight of the fourteen weeks of her life. And then you come in here, put everything on the line, and you believe you won, your opponent believes you won and then you get a draw. It’s a hard pill to swallow.”
Francis was then asked how he could make the rematch?
“There’s a lot to be discussed,” he said. “These guys may not want to fight again. But it was a world title eliminator. There needs to be a winner. But at the moment it’s up in the air. So does it go to purse bid? Who knows. But I think it’s got to be on neutral territory.”
ROSE: ‘DON’T TRY TO DIMINISH WHAT WE DO …”
Minutes later when it was his turn at the podium, Rose was asked about Francis’s claim that the rematch could not take place under No Limit.
“What, it’s going to be on a Tasman card in front of 200 people?” the promoter fired. “Who would stage it then? Eddie Hearn had 300 people [at his Gold Coast show] last week. We had 6000 there tonight.
“Please don’t try to diminish what we do in the sport. The shows we put on are the best in the country. If people are going to be critical of judging, it has nothing to do with us whatsoever.”
Pushed on the idea of a rematch, he continued: “A rematch is always something that is on the cards when a fight goes like that and there is a draw. We’ll have a look. We do have other plans in place [for Tszyu] so we’ll have to have a chat as a team … but it’s something that would be of interest.
“It would depend on where we can do it and how we can do it. But it’s always hard to make rematches happen. I’ve tried to do a few of them in the past and there has always been stumbling blocks.
“And they’ve probably got a path they want to take, and we’ve got a path that we want to take.”
IN-RING DRAMA
There was also drama inside the ring immediately after the fight.
When asked for a comment by Main Event’s Ben Damon, George Rose started into a response before the Gold Coast crowd, which was heavy with Mahoney fans, started booing loudly.
However, Rose also appeared to take issue with someone inside the ring, and potentially from Mahoney’s team.
“I tell you what,” Rose said at one point, “I’ll keep my composure because I wanna slap the s*** out of someone if youse keep going. It’s annoying the f*** out of me. It really is. I don’t have time for cheeky people. I don’t have time for that.”
Rose then left the ring and disappeared backstage.
Asked afterwards for context, Matt Rose said: “There were a couple of comments made in the ring. I’m not going to comment on that. We’re there to support Nikita. It’s an emotional time.
“We’ve been in situations before where, we had one earlier in the year, after the fight in January [against Michael Zerafa], where George was put in a situation out of his control.
“George’s emotion tonight was … he texted me afterwards but I don’t think he’s got anything to apologise for. You run into people like that all the time that say a lot of smart [arse] things. You can’t do anything about it.”
#Adessonews seleziona nella rete articoli di particolare interesse.
Se vuoi leggere l’articolo completo clicca sul seguente link
Source link
