Australian boxer Stevie Spark has slammed the “incompetent” officiating during Sunday’s split decision loss to Mexico’s Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela, branding the last-minute decision to switch the judges as “corrupt”.
Spark went down in a split decision defeat (96-93, 94-95, 95-94) to Valenzuela after a ten-round war.
The Australian hit harder than his rival but was knocked down in the sixth round, which may have been what cost him the win.
The judging panel for Spark’s bout was changed at the eleventh hour, as revealed by Fox Sports’ Ben Damon, with three neutrals swapped up for two locals — both of which awarded Valenzuela the victory.
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Speaking to foxsports.com.au, Spark also claimed promoter Matchroom attempted to switch the referee before the fight.
“They tried to switch the referee before the fight,” Spark said.
“We were meant to have the same judges as Canelo vs Ryder. We found out after we got out of the ring, they switched out two of the judges to the local commission. Both of those judges are from Guadalajara and they’re the ones that gave it to him.
“It was all in writing who was actually going to be judging and officiating the event. They tried to switch the referee, and we found out after that they switched the judges last minute, two local judges.
“(Matchroom) told us they’re going to look into the judge switching.
“You’re messing with people’s lives. Incompetent, corrupt whatever it may be, you change someone’s life. You’d like to see these people held accountable.
“I was a bit upset for about an hour, but you have to just pull yourself together and go again. I should have got him (Valenzuela) out of there, but I’ll come again. This won’t affect my career.”
Speaking to IFL TV, Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn also voiced his frustration with the situation.
“I thought he (Spark) won the fight,” Hearn confessed.
“I’m not actually happy because the officials were changed for that fight. They were supposed to be neutral officials and before the fight somehow they ended up being local officials and I’m not particularly happy about it.”
Professional boxers and DAZN experts Jessica McCaskill and Darren Barker agreed Spark should have won, with Barker calling it a “hometown decision”.