Boxing trainer Stephen Castle is one person who does not fear to make his feelings known publicly whether his frankness irritates people or not for as long he drives his point home.
The former heavyweight boxer was spewing bile yesterday when approached about what he thought of the outcome of the vacant South African super middleweight title fight which went against his boxer Renson "Badgad" Hobyani at Emperors Palace last weekend.
Rowan "Braveheart" Campbell - who dropped Hobyani in round 11 - was declared the winner with scores of 114-113, 115-113 and 116-111.
Castle of TopBox Gym first questioned the conduct of referee Thabo Spampool.
"No points taken to prevent him from doing it further. Campbell was pushing and using forearm in Renson's face all the time," said the trainer who also wondered which fight was judge Neville Hotz watching to arrive at the verdict of 116-111.
"That was completely ridiculous. I can probably take hard the scorecards of 114-113 [Ben Ncapayi] and 115-113 [Tony Nyangiwe] but the 116-111 was just way out the mark.
"I knew going to Emperors Palace that it would be a mission to defeat Rowan because they would give him rounds.
"That place has become [like] East London. You've got to knock your opponent out [if you are an outsider] to win your fights and that is not good at all for boxing."
Castle asked furiously: "How did Rowan win the fight when he did not land punches? He was just going forward but we made it impossible for him to land. Renson was smart, clever, sticking his jab.
"The only punch that landed on Renson was the one that dropped him," Castle said.
"I feel sorry for Campbell who is gonna feel the sense that he is a champion. He's gonna fight guys like Lee Dyer and Alfonso Tissen and they will hurt him. I have no issue with Rowan and his team but I have the issue with the way the referee handled the fight and the scoring by judges.
"We want a rematch on our grounds."
Hobyani said: "I won the fight but I was robbed by the judges. It was an unfair decision. The only round Campbell won was round 11 when he dropped me. We could have drawn round 9 [but] I won the rest. They must make us fight again, even if it is no longer the SA title but any other title."
Hobyani suffered his third loss in 11 fights.
We wuz robbed, cries Hobyani trainer after loss
Image: Supplied
Boxing trainer Stephen Castle is one person who does not fear to make his feelings known publicly whether his frankness irritates people or not for as long he drives his point home.
The former heavyweight boxer was spewing bile yesterday when approached about what he thought of the outcome of the vacant South African super middleweight title fight which went against his boxer Renson "Badgad" Hobyani at Emperors Palace last weekend.
Rowan "Braveheart" Campbell - who dropped Hobyani in round 11 - was declared the winner with scores of 114-113, 115-113 and 116-111.
Castle of TopBox Gym first questioned the conduct of referee Thabo Spampool.
"No points taken to prevent him from doing it further. Campbell was pushing and using forearm in Renson's face all the time," said the trainer who also wondered which fight was judge Neville Hotz watching to arrive at the verdict of 116-111.
"That was completely ridiculous. I can probably take hard the scorecards of 114-113 [Ben Ncapayi] and 115-113 [Tony Nyangiwe] but the 116-111 was just way out the mark.
"I knew going to Emperors Palace that it would be a mission to defeat Rowan because they would give him rounds.
"That place has become [like] East London. You've got to knock your opponent out [if you are an outsider] to win your fights and that is not good at all for boxing."
Castle asked furiously: "How did Rowan win the fight when he did not land punches? He was just going forward but we made it impossible for him to land. Renson was smart, clever, sticking his jab.
"The only punch that landed on Renson was the one that dropped him," Castle said.
"I feel sorry for Campbell who is gonna feel the sense that he is a champion. He's gonna fight guys like Lee Dyer and Alfonso Tissen and they will hurt him. I have no issue with Rowan and his team but I have the issue with the way the referee handled the fight and the scoring by judges.
"We want a rematch on our grounds."
Hobyani said: "I won the fight but I was robbed by the judges. It was an unfair decision. The only round Campbell won was round 11 when he dropped me. We could have drawn round 9 [but] I won the rest. They must make us fight again, even if it is no longer the SA title but any other title."
Hobyani suffered his third loss in 11 fights.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Related articles
Latest Videos