THE INTERNATIONAL BOXING FEDERATION (IBF) has confirmed that a judge made an error with his scorecard during Ryan Burnett’s world title bout against Lee Haskins on Saturday night.
Belfast bantamweight Burnett (17-0, 9 KOs) claimed the world title in his home city only by split decision despite putting his English opponent (34-4, 14 KOs) on the canvas twice and dominating the fight from start to finish.
There were many eyebrows raised when the bout was scored 119-107, 108-118, 119-107 and it has since emerged that the judge who scored the fight in Haskins’s favour — American Clark Sammartino — mixed up the fighters at the Odyssey Arena.
The IBF has since confirmed that there was an “error on the scorecards”.
“On Saturday, June 10, 2017 the IBF bantamweight bout between Lee Haskins and Ryan Burnett held at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Ireland was ruled a split-decision victory for Burnett as a result of an error with the scorecards,” an IBF statement reads.
“Due to this error, in which one of the scores after each round was recorded on the individual scorecards for the incorrect fighter, the bout was declared a split decision when it should have been ruled a unanimous decision in favour of Burnett.
“An error of this nature and at this level of the sport should not have occurred.
“The IBF carefully considers the officials it recommends for appointment to a bout. Judge Clark Sammartino has been a member of the IBF for many years and has been a solid, reliable and consistent judge.
“He has an active officiating career and has worked at the world-class level.
“The IBF remains committed to recommending qualified and reliable officials to work its sanctioned bouts, and is fully intent on deterring a situation such as this one from occurring again in the future.”
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