Boxing ring official Linda Ncakeni has denied any wrongdoing in his scoring of the WBF Intercontinental bantamweight bout between champion Akani Sambo and Joshua Studdard.
He was reacting to the announcement by WBF president Howard Goldberg that Ncakeni and Duduzile Dlamini made a mistake by scoring the 12-rounder based on the colours in the boxers’ corners instead of the names of the two fighters as it appeared on their individual scoresheets.
As a result, Studdard was wrongly announced as the winner by a split points decision because one judge, Tony Nyangiwe, scored it in favour of Sambo. Goldberg said the two “new” officials made a legitimate error, which he later corrected and declared Sambo as the winner by a unanimous points decision.
In a letter to the Sowetan, Ncakeni wrote: “As per norm, being a title bout we were each given 12 score sheets, each to be submitted at the end of every round. The score sheets already had names written on them with Studdard in the red corner and Sambo in the blue corner.
“But before the bout started, the referee, Siya Vabaza, allocated Studdard to the blue corner and Sambo to the red corner as per the reflection on the programme,” he continued in his letter.
“Then the referee informed us to effect the changes, so I changed all my score sheets and wrote the boxers’ names afresh bearing Sambo on the red corner and Studdard on the blue corner. Then I scored the bout as according to the boxer’s names and corners from round 1 to the last and I submitted a score sheet at the end of each round.
“Only at the end of round 12 there was an unusual delay in announcing the results and it was evident that the results were still held in the possession of the WBF fight supervisor.
“I could hear the irritated fans shouting that the results were still being cooked. The fight supervisor [Goldberg] summoned me to his table and asked me ‘who was your winner?’. I indicated that it was Sambo on the red corner.
“There was still further delay in announcing the results when he summoned me for the second time and told me that I have made a ‘mess’.”
Ncakeni added: “He didn’t indicate to me what mess I had made; instead he cautioned me that I shouldn’t speak to anyone about the results.
“Then, to my dismay, when the results were announced my scores were swapped, what I awarded to Sambo was given to Studdard and vice versa.
“It became crystal clear to me that there was a predetermined winner before the fight and the favourite failing to live up to standard ... I inferred that was a mess.
“What I couldn’t understand was that no matter what, he was still made a winner on the table. After the results were announced, we had an informal meeting with the referee who was accusing the other official for causing a split.
“It was clear that she was satisfied with Studdard as a winner of the bout. I left the venue after all the officials had left because I had misplaced my file and the staff was assisting me to locate it.”
Ncakeni says when he left around 7.30pm, Studdard was still taking photos and inquiring about the whereabouts of the fight supervisor to grant him the bag for his belt.
“The fight supervisor left me with questions without answers and he hasn’t spoken to me ever since then,” he said.
BSA says they received an official complaint from Studdard and that they are attending to the matter. “We believe that something has to be done,” said acting CEO Nsikayezwe Sithole.
Ncakeni denies ‘mistake’ in scoring bout
Confusion over Sambo-Studdard winner not due to him
Image: SUPPLIED
Boxing ring official Linda Ncakeni has denied any wrongdoing in his scoring of the WBF Intercontinental bantamweight bout between champion Akani Sambo and Joshua Studdard.
He was reacting to the announcement by WBF president Howard Goldberg that Ncakeni and Duduzile Dlamini made a mistake by scoring the 12-rounder based on the colours in the boxers’ corners instead of the names of the two fighters as it appeared on their individual scoresheets.
As a result, Studdard was wrongly announced as the winner by a split points decision because one judge, Tony Nyangiwe, scored it in favour of Sambo. Goldberg said the two “new” officials made a legitimate error, which he later corrected and declared Sambo as the winner by a unanimous points decision.
In a letter to the Sowetan, Ncakeni wrote: “As per norm, being a title bout we were each given 12 score sheets, each to be submitted at the end of every round. The score sheets already had names written on them with Studdard in the red corner and Sambo in the blue corner.
“But before the bout started, the referee, Siya Vabaza, allocated Studdard to the blue corner and Sambo to the red corner as per the reflection on the programme,” he continued in his letter.
“Then the referee informed us to effect the changes, so I changed all my score sheets and wrote the boxers’ names afresh bearing Sambo on the red corner and Studdard on the blue corner. Then I scored the bout as according to the boxer’s names and corners from round 1 to the last and I submitted a score sheet at the end of each round.
“Only at the end of round 12 there was an unusual delay in announcing the results and it was evident that the results were still held in the possession of the WBF fight supervisor.
“I could hear the irritated fans shouting that the results were still being cooked. The fight supervisor [Goldberg] summoned me to his table and asked me ‘who was your winner?’. I indicated that it was Sambo on the red corner.
“There was still further delay in announcing the results when he summoned me for the second time and told me that I have made a ‘mess’.”
Ncakeni added: “He didn’t indicate to me what mess I had made; instead he cautioned me that I shouldn’t speak to anyone about the results.
“Then, to my dismay, when the results were announced my scores were swapped, what I awarded to Sambo was given to Studdard and vice versa.
“It became crystal clear to me that there was a predetermined winner before the fight and the favourite failing to live up to standard ... I inferred that was a mess.
“What I couldn’t understand was that no matter what, he was still made a winner on the table. After the results were announced, we had an informal meeting with the referee who was accusing the other official for causing a split.
“It was clear that she was satisfied with Studdard as a winner of the bout. I left the venue after all the officials had left because I had misplaced my file and the staff was assisting me to locate it.”
Ncakeni says when he left around 7.30pm, Studdard was still taking photos and inquiring about the whereabouts of the fight supervisor to grant him the bag for his belt.
“The fight supervisor left me with questions without answers and he hasn’t spoken to me ever since then,” he said.
BSA says they received an official complaint from Studdard and that they are attending to the matter. “We believe that something has to be done,” said acting CEO Nsikayezwe Sithole.
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