On the heels of Saturday night’s controversial WBO Super Featherweight title bout that saw defending champion Roman Martinez receive a gift draw against Juan Carlos Burgos, Burgos promoters Banner Promotions and Thompson Boxing are filing a request to the WBO for an immediate rematch.
Even before the scores were announced, the HBO broadcast team called into question about the judges as they had 9 combined title assignments with Signorile working his first title bout ever.
HBO Boxing Analyst Max Kellerman went as far to say to “Keep your eye on Paolillo” before the scores were even announced. Kellerman later said he “should not get an assignment on this level…”
The official punch stats showed a 286-193 advantage for Burgos with a 234-164 tally on power punches.
HBO also ran a poll where fans sent in their thoughts on who won the fight and an overwhelming 84% of those who participated believed that Burgos should have been awarded the victory and title.
“Juan Carlos won that fight hands down and this week we will file for an immediate rematch”, said Arthur Pelullo, CEO of Banner Promotions.
Continued Pelullo, “The kid worked hard and should be a world champion this morning. We just hope the WBO agrees with what the whole world saw and does the right thing by granting us this rematch”.
Below is a sampling of boxing media opinions on the fight:
– Kevin Iole of yahoo.com 115-113 for Burgos
– Mike Rosenthal of Ring Magazine: “This is what bothers me: Juan Carlos Burgos dreams his entire life of winning a major world championship, which so far had eluded him, and then earns that title by dominating the current champion in the ring. Then a bungling judge steals what should’ve been the greatest night of his career. That’s what happened on Saturday, when Burgos clearly outboxed WBO lightweight titleholder Rocky Martinez but had to settle for a draw because of a horrible split decision. The rogue judge was Tony Paolillo, who somehow scored the fight 116-112 (eight rounds to four) for Martinez. The 114-114 score of John Signorile also is baffling. The biggest punches of the fight were the dozens of punishing body shots landed by Burgos. And, according to punch stats, Burgos landed 93 more overall punches and 70 more power punches than Martinez (286-193 and 234-164). That Paolillo and Signorile somehow failed to see that left Burgos (30-1-1, 20 KOs) on the wrong end of yet another injustice in boxing. Shame.”
– Dan Rafael of espn.com: 116-112 Burgos. “The 24-year-old Burgos (30-1-1, 20 KOs), however, seemed to carry the better of it. He used a hard, sustained body attack throughout the fight. Of the 234 power shots Burgos landed, 118 were to the body, according to CompuBox statistics. Burgos outlanded Martinez (26-1-2, 16 KOs) in 10 of the 12 rounds”
– Harold Lederman-HBO Judge: 117-111 Burgos. On the broadcast, Lederman was quoted as saying, “Burgos carried this fight. I don’t know how you miss it
– Lem Satterfield and Doug Fischer of Ring Magazine: 115-113 for Burgos
