Boxing is no longer a beautiful scientific art. It is a brutal sport. Let’s be honest, it’s a matter of life and death despite the many safeguards introduced over the years. Whenever a fatal incident occurs, there are calls to ban the sport. However, it has weathered many storms.
Safety of boxers is the primary concern of the third man in the ring during a contest. There is a very thin line between stopping a bout early following a single deadly blow or after one too many. Referees are under intense pressure to make instant decisions.
In an unprecedented decision during the finals of the National Boxing Championships held at the Royal MAS Arena on Friday, the safety of the boxer was compromised. After a humdinger of Heavyweight battle, Army’s PARS Rupasinghe was floored by a blow to the chin by Navy’s KMCK Karunanayake midway in the final round. The veteran Army pugilist bounced to his feet but the referee counted him out which was deemed a knockout win in favour of the Navy fighter.
Pandemonium reigned thereafter with the Army boxer indicating his willingness to continue and the Army cornerman protesting. Despite the referee standing by his decision, it was overturned by the jury and the bout ordered to resume after a few minutes to the consternation of the Navy corner. Upon resumption, the Army boxer suffered another ‘eight’ count and also received another stunning blow but Navy ended up on the losing side suffering a split 4:1 decision which enraged Navy officials and fans.
It took some time for sanity to be restored with the Boxing Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) officials promising an inquiry after watching videos that were circulated of the critical third round.
In hindsight, it could be seen that the Army boxer indicated his willingness to continue when he was being counted but the referee who was closest to the boxer may have seen something that forced him to count till ten. Boxers by nature are never willing to give up because of their fighting spirit and pride even if they get a battering. His corner is not ready to throw in the towel because they want to win at any cost. The onus is on the referee to make that important call considering the safety of the boxer.
“We made the right decision. Technical delegates can overturn the decision of the referee but not the decision of the judges,” said a BASL official.
The question that begged an answer was how come a boxer who had been deemed knocked out by the referee, allowed to resume fighting after a few minutes when the regulation requires him to rest for at least a month to recover.
In another irony, the particular referee who supposedly made a bad decision was allowed to officiate the remaining bouts of the day without even a reprimand or suspension.
The bottom line is the breakdown of discipline of stakeholders in the sports particularly coaches and boxers. Officials in the corner cry foul at the drop of a hat and scream at the referee when their boxer loses. No wonder boxers think they have won every bout and can never be knocked out in their life.
On the other hand, there is a lack of respect for officials because of the incompetence of some who have vested interests and personal agendas. There is no system of grading officials on merit based on their performance by the Boxing Referees and Judges Association of Sri Lanka (BRJA).
In the good old days, the jury consisted of boxing legends such Danton Obeyesekere, Dharmasiri Weerakoon and Donald Moonesinghe.
Referees like Olympian Weerakoon and KV Dharmadasa were king of the ring. They were highly respected and their judgement was never questioned. Now there are too many cooks who spoil the soup.
It is time BASL took action to clean up the stables instead of sweeping burning issues under the carpet.