OCTOBER 19th UPDATE: Disgraced British judge Terry O'Connor has been summoned to appear before the stewards of the British Boxing Board of Control following his shameful work over the weekend. O'Connor turned in two very bad scorecards, one in British junior welterweight Lewis Ritson's controversial highly controversial split-decision win over Miguel Vazquez and the other in Thomas Patrick Ward's draw vs. Thomas Essomba (two judges scored it a draw, while O'Connor had it six rounds to two for Ward). As for Ritson-Vazquez, Ritson received the win with a verdict of 117-111 and 115-113, overruling a scorecard of 116-113 for Vazquez. The 117-111 card was turned in by O'Connor, and infuriatingly, O'Connor was seen looking at what appeared to be his phone during the fight (see below). Even of the photo is misleading and that is not his phone, the scorecard is horrendous on its own merits. O'Connor's work looks even worse after Compubox released the Punchstat numbers for Ritson-Vazquez. The Mexican visitor outlanded Ritson 193 punches to 141, and threw 1,001 punches compared to Ritson’s 544. In fact, Vazquez out landed Ritson in nine of the twelve rounds, yet McConnell scored it the other way, nine rounds to three for Ritson.

 

Ritson's promoter Eddie Hearn was rightly offended by the photo, tweeting, "If that’s a phone (and I presume it is) then then BBBofC should immediately remove him." Hearn also told IFL TV's Kugan Cassius, "I had Vazquez winning the fight comfortably... I can't see a way that Vazquez didn't win that fight and 117-111 is an absolute disgrace, it's the only way to say it."

 

One important historical note... O'Connor was the referee and sole arbiter of an early Tyson Fury fight with a controversial ending that deserves re-examining in light of this scandal. Sky Sports announcers had John McDermott beating a young Tyson Fury in 2010 but O'Connor gave Fury a lopsided win, by scores of 98-92. (O'Connor was the referee and in many British fights,there are no judges, and only the referee scores fights). The television announcers were shocked: "98-92! By six points, that is extraordinary!... Does he have the names mixed up? I cannot explain that, I'm sorry." To his credit, Fury gave McDermott an immediate rematch and won by stoppage. But it seems that, absent O'Connor's favoritism, Fury would have a loss on his record.

 

 

Even Ritson admitted afterwards that he needs to improve. He said: “It just depends what you like doesn’t it. He was tapping me and running away. I was hitting him with the cleaner jabs. It was very frustrating being out the gym a year and then facing that style. It was probably more awkward than I thought it was going to be. The more the fight went on the more frustrated I got. It was a big eye opener. We’ve been mentioning the Prograis fight, tonight was a bit of an eye opener that we’re a million miles off that fight. We need a couple more fights like Vazquez, maybe not his style. That’s what you get when you step up. We had a hard job doing it. I’m improving as a fighter but I’ve got a lot more improving to do.”