Kash wants to see new boxing scoring set-up
Kash Farooq reckons controversial judges’ scorecards are costing boxers their careers.
And the Glasgow bantamweight wants to see the system overhauled to prevent more fighters from quitting the sport out of frustration.
Farooq lost his British title a fortnight ago to Edinburgh’s Lee McGregor on points – despite many people believing he had won the fight.
And it was a similar story last weekend when ringside judges went in favour of Callum Smith, despite John Ryder dominating their worldtitle bout.
Farooq believes these decisions are damaging boxing – and thinks fight organisers need to look at introducing new ways of scoring a fight.
He said: “They need to bring something in. They need to look at the whole scoring system as it seems to be happening more and more in boxing.
“I know a lot of boys who have been on the wrong end of a bad decision and ended up just chucking the sport entirely.
“Maybe you only get one opportunity to fight for a British title or a world title and you think you’ve done enough to win. And then the judges rob you and you don’t get another shot at a title.
“We can’t have that in boxing. We need to look at it all and try to fix it.
“Maybe we can have computers saying how many punches have landed. Or maybe the judges can explain their cards as sometimes you wonder if they’re watching a different fight.
“The last thing boxing wants is to upset the fans. Most of them can tell if a fight hasn’t been scored the right way and they get really annoyed and fed up with the sport. And we don’t want that.”
Farooq’s management team are in talks with Eddie Hearn with a view to the Matchroom boss promoting his next fight in the spring. But he doesn’t expect it will be a rematch with McGregor.
He said: “I’m hoping to sign with Eddie and my next fight should be on one of his cards, maybe around April time.
“I’ve broke through fighting on small hall shows without a major promoter. But now I need to go to the next level. People want to watch me in bigger halls and stadiums. And Eddie Hearn is the perfect man to make that happen.
“I would like a rematch with McGregor. But realistically I can’t see that happening for a wee while at least for a few reasons.
“I would fight him right away but, being honest, there’s only a small possibility. But maybe one day in the future we will get back in the ring together.”