Bizarre scoring leaves fight supervisor 'speechless'

Two of the three veteran boxing judges got it so wrong in determining the winner after an action-filled 10-rounder between Sabelo Ngebinyana and Ardy Katompa that fight supervisor Lehlohonolo Ramagole could not hide the embarrassment.

A former professional boxer, Ramagole, who is Boxing SA provincial manager in Gauteng, was so shocked by Jaap van Niewenhuizen's score that he sent it back to him to make sure if that was indeed Van Niewenhuizen's ruling which favoured Ngebinyana with a four-point margin (97-93).

Van Niewenhuizen could not explain his reasoning as judges are barred from doing interviews.

“You know too well, I can't change scores,” said Ramagole. Regarding judge Tony Nyangiwe's draw (95-95) which was the decider, Ramagole said: “I am speechless.”

Van Niewenhuizen can be forgiven for his verdict, he took a decision, at least. There was even an opinion that he could have erroneously confused boxers' names, think the boxer who was aggressive, busier and dictated the terms of the fight was Ngebinyana.

But the fact that when presented the opportunity by Ramagole to correct his cards, he stuck to his guns, meant that Van Niewenihuzen was resolute.

Nyangiwe just sat on the fence and scored it a draw. That is being indecisive, and he was appointed to make that decision whether boxing camps, fans and sponsors agree with it or not. Namhla Tyuluba voted for the deserving winner and that was Katompa. 

Each round is worth a maximum of 10 points, which means a fighter can score as high as 120 in a 12-round fight, 100 in a 10-round fight and so on.

If nobody has won via knockout after the scheduled number of rounds, the judges' round-by-round scorecards throughout the fight will determine the winner.

Undoubtedly, Ngebinyana won the first two rounds as Katompa was befuddled by his southpaw stance. By round four, the 20-year-old six-fight beginner had figured out a way of dealing with a left-hander.

Ushered to war by young trainers — Shle Mathenjwa and Frans Ramabolu, Katompa of the WBC Gym in the Carlton Centre pushed the pace and came close twice to forcing referee Simon Mokadi to stop the proceedings when he pummelled Ngebinyana.

The ring veteran's experience helped him extricate himself from possible stoppages.

Katompa and Ngebinyana shared spoils after their bout had been declared a draw. Katompa remains undefeated after seven fights. His career is managed by Brad Norman who is part of Warriors Ascent Promotion which staged an international six-bout development card that was televised live by Vision View and DAZN from Sandton Synagogoue.

Football club owner Jomo Sono was Norman's ringside guest.

Other results:

Featherweight 6 rounds:

Carl van Blerk beat Khotso Ramabolu on points

Asiphe Ntshili bt Wiseman Tshuma TKO1; Jason Medi bt Chikondi Makawa KO1,  Khulakahle Dlamini bt Siphelele Mboza TKO2; Sivenathi Nolawu bt Henry Muyaya KO1

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