Bum decisions in Asian Games continue to hound Incheon organizers

Boos, catcalls and protestations by competing nations have continued to hound the Asian Games organizers in Incheon, South Korea led by an outraged Indian boxing contingent which lodged a formal protest and demanded a review of L Sarita Devi's lightweight semifinal bout  after the veteran was adjudged to have lost despite a dominating performance against hometown favorite Jina Park.
 
The fight which was telecast in the Philippines over TV5 showed the Indian girl in almost total control of the bout but the judges shocked Sarita and the crowd at the Soonhak Gymnasium when Park was announced as the winner which left  the former Asian champion Sarita in tears.
 
The Philippines had suffered a similar fate when 19-year-old Ian Clark Bautista was robbed of a well-deserved victory in the flyweight round of 16 against Sangkon Choe of South Korea who inexplicably won 30-26 courtesy of a one point deduction by the referee for ducking low and on two judges  scorecards with  29-28 margins to give the hometown boxer a unanimous decision victory.

The judges were Hassan Zoubid of Morocco, Amrik Singh Basi of Britain and Hammadi Sidi Yakoun of Algeria.

Bautista dropped the Korean twice when his gloves touched the canvas but referee Malcolm Gallagher of Ireland refused to call a knockdown and only called the third when Bautista clearly sent Choe to the canvas.

Amateur Boxing Alliance of the Philippines executive director Ed Picson told Yahoo Philippines he initially wanted to file a protest and pay the $500 filing fee which would be forfeited if the protest was turned down. He decided against pushing through with it because under the rules the judges’ decision could not be contested and even if the one point deduction slapped on Bautisa was removed the Filipino would still have lost the bout.

The decision  favoring the South Korean was roundly booed by the fans with TV5 sportscaster Charlie Cuna stating “our boxer Bautista just got robbed . He beat up a lousy Korean fighter, knocked him down even but lost on points. Robbery!”

ABAP president Ricky Vargas as well as Picson told us they “feel for the boy” who was distraught and  cried on Picson’s shoulder unashamedly and said “ I sacrificed four years for this, only to be robbed.”

Aside from India, the delegations from Thailand, the Philippines, Mongolia and even China have complained bitterly about the bum officiating that recalled how the South Koreans robbed American middleweight Roy Jones Jr blind in a gold medal bout against a  South Korean opponent which was considered one of the worst injustices in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul after which allegations surfaced that the judges had been bribed.

In the men’s bantamweight quarter finals Mongolia’s Nyambayar Tugstsogt out-boxed and out-fought Korea’s Sangmeyong Han, connecting with accurate and solid punches all to no avail as the judges awarded the fight to the hometown fighter in another travesty.

Thailand’s London Olympian Saylom Ardee who lost to South Korea’s Han Soon-Chul 29-28 on the scorecards of all three judges insisted he did better than the South Korean and should have won.

The Thai pointed out he knew “it would be tough to beat a Korean opponent on his home soil” but added “I landed more punches” in his first loss to Han in three encounters. Saylom said “In fact I did better than in the two previous fights” against Han which the Thai won.

But despite the protestations it was only the Indian delegation who filed a protest even though they realized that it was futile since judges’ decisions, no matter how terribly bad, cannot be overturned.
 
Sarita Devi was in anguish after losing a bout in which she matched Park blow for blow in the opening round and was markedly more aggressive and precise in the succeeding rounds but fell behind in what Indian media described as “a rather bizarre turn of events in which Park ended up being the judges' choice despite barely managing to stay in the fight. Such was the Indian's ferocity that Park resorted to holding to slow down the pace of the bout after being left with a bloodied nose. “
 
But as the media noted “Sarita's precision and her brilliant ring craft failed to find favor with the judges in the third and fourth rounds which went to the home favorite, who was struggling to stand up to the onslaught of punches “ from the Indian girl.

The report said Sarita found support from India's long-time Cuban coach B I Fernandes and fellow boxer MC Mary Kom, who advanced to the final. Fernandes blasted the officials alleging “It was pre-decided, the 3-0 verdict is a clear-cut indication. The Korean deserved to have been given many standing counts, going by what happened in the ring, and the bout should have been stopped."
 
Fernandes fumed, "Sarita was a clear-cut winner but money has talked here and the judges deserve to be thrown out. It happened in Seoul during the 1988 Olympic Games, it's happening now again. Nothing seems to have changed. The new rules have made no difference."

Kom, a multi-titled champion who is in the finals was a little more moderate in her remarks mindful of the possible backlash when she enters the ring.
 
A five-time world champion and a 2012 London Olympics bronze medalist, Kom  expressed her disappointment stating  "I am shocked and disappointed. Sarita was the clear winner. This should not have happened. She lost because her opponent was a Korean."
 
Sarita’s husband Thoiba Singh blasted the decision and alleged “the bout was fixed and this was an uncivilized decision” while Sarita herself said “all the training means nothing when such things happens. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. We sacrifice so much, even times with our kids.”
 
The Indians filed a protest after Mongolia also filed a complaint citing similar grounds of bias  but both protests, as expected, were eventually thrown out by the Games jury.
 
Interestingly, as Indian media pointed out, the international boxing federation is controlled by South Koreans.

Devi later on refused her bronze medal during the awarding ceremony and left it at the podiuem.
 
As one respected observer in Incheon pointed out while officials of AIBA, the international governing body for amateur boxing are present in Incheon they are not supposed to be involved in the running of the tournament.
 
It was also noted that after Mongolia, India and Thailand displayed their disgust at the bum  decisions that went against them, soon afterwards they began to lose most of their fights.
 
Picson decided against filing a  protest and antagonizing the Korean organizers and took the more rational step of merely addressing a  letter to Tournament supervisor David Francis of Wales  who is the highest ranking official of the boxing tournament.
 
Yahoo Philippines obtained a copy of Picson’s letter in which he said:
 
 
Dear David,
 
Please allow me to explain my team's position regarding the bout between our boxer Ian Clark Bautista and Korea's Choe Sangdon and my decision to speak with you about it right after the bout.
 
We felt strongly that Bautista won the fight and the reaction of the crowd reinforces that argument.
 
Having said that, I have been in this sport  long enough to know there will be times when things happen which strike us as unfathomable. Then again, there have been several instances in the tournament (not involving us) which elicited angry reactions, not only from the participants involved, but the crowd as well.

We are concerned that repetition of such insensitive decisions may send the wrong signals and damage the gains the AIBA leadership under President Ching Kuo Wu has achieved in its avowed goal of transparency and fairness.

As you know, I considered filing a protest but after speaking with you, thought the better of it.
 
I wish to make it clear that I am not accusing any of the officials of the tournament but only wish to remind our judges and referees to be more circumspect and focused. Perhaps a review of the fight tape and those of other contested results is in order?
 
As a brother in our beloved sport, I know you to be one of the most upright people I have come across in boxing. The same holds true for most of the officials working the tournament. This view is unchanged. I only wish for our tournament to be successful and for our sport to be free of controversy and suspicion.
 
I reiterate my and my federation's pledge of continued cooperation and unwavering support for AIBA and its leadership as well as your  unenviable job as Tournament Supervisor.
 
May you have less headaches.
 
Sincerely,
 
Edgar Picson
Executive Director, Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines
Team Leader, Philippine Contingent for Boxing

Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.