‘Thank God I made the ref a judge’
WHAT THE PROMOTER THOUGHT:
‘‘Thank God I made him a judge,’’ promoter David Higgins exclaimed at ringside, seconds after Joseph Parker retained his WBO world heavyweight title.
While the Kiwi champion left Manchester Arena with his belt after defeating Hughie Fury yesterday, the victory wasn’t without its anxious moments and seemed destined for more controversy as the bout headed to the judges’ scorecards.
American
Rocky Hall scored the fight
114-114, but Englishman Terry O’Connor, who was shifted to the judging panel after Higgins stormed into a prefight press conference demanding his removal as referee, was one of two judges to award Parker a comfortable 118-110 win.
Higgins was ejected from the press conference after the controversial incident, but scored a win when the British Board of Control offered a compromise and appointed Marcus McDonnell as referee.
A visibly relieved Higgins
called it ‘‘a nailbiter’’ at ringside after the decision was announced.
With a wink to a small but vocal ringside Kiwi contingent, which included a jovial former Warriors winger Manu Vatuvei, Parker, who had barely a mark on his face afterwards, settled into his work
with a busy first round.
He couldn’t find the knockout blow he’d so confidently predicted, but did enough to silence the fans who chanted ‘‘who are ya?’’ during the weigh-in and make the UK take notice after a disappointing first showing in front of British TV viewers in May.
For so long the hometown hero in New Zealand and Samoa, the world champion stepped out on the world stage for the first time and had to deal with what was at times a farcical promotion.
The fight was first shifted from Auckland to Manchester after Fury pulled out claiming a back injury, and was marred by refereeing controversies and a scuffle at the weigh-in during a fiery buildup.
It didn’t get much better on fight night yesterday, as a parochial but largely empty Manchester Arena was plagued by operational problems including what seemed to be a private conversation being broadcast over the PA system for several minutes during an undercard bout, microphones cutting out during in-ring interviews.
A large brawl also broke out in the stands and took several minutes to quell.