This past Saturday boxing fans who were looking for a little action found it in the form of a Premier Boxing Champions event. The featured attraction was the main event match up between welterweight contenders Eimantas Stanionis and Luis Collazo. This contest was supposed to be the feature, but it was overshadowed by the injustice that took place in the co- main event.
Mykal Fox, a 6 foot 3 147 pound welterweight from Maryland faced the 5 foot 10 Venezuelan Olympian Gabriel Maestre. They fought for the vacant World Boxing Association (WBA) interim welterweight title. This drama filled contest experienced controversy prior to the opening bell. Fox’s trainer noticed Maestre’s gloves were taped improperly. The tape was too high on the gloves. Maestre’s corner man cut the original job and proceeded to re-tape the gloves.
The contest started with a minor controversy but it ended with major corruption. Fox controlled the tempo by using his jab. In the second round Fox threw a right jab followed by a left hook. The hook sent Maestre down to the canvas. For the remaining ten rounds of the fight, Fox appeared to be winning as he was effectively using his jab, movement, and combination punching. Unfortunately for Mykal Fox when the decision was revealed, Gabriel Maestre was announced the winner by unanimous decision.
Boxing analysts, fans, managers, and other boxers labeled the decision as a flat-out robbery. The official scores were 114-113, 115-112, and 117-110 all in favor of Maestre. The most scrutinized scorecard belonged to Gloria Martinez-Rizzo. She’s the judge who scored the bout 117-110. In 2019 Rizzo got voted WBA Judge of the year. The honor came with an asterisk. The asterisk is present due to the fact she’s married to WBA executive Ricardo Rizzo.
Gloria Martinez-Rizzo was placed on the radar due to the egregious scorecard she turned in. Rizzo remains under the microscope due to the discovery of her history in regards to controversial tweets.
In a 2020 tweet that former first lady Michelle Obama labeled the protestors in Portland as peaceful, Rizzo tweeted the response ” Ok monkey face your time is gone bye bye.”
In another tweet when the Black Lives Matter Co-founder tweeted getting Trump out was the goal, Rizzo responded by tweeting, “kill her jail is a comfort.”
In regards to the injustice that took place in the ring, WBA president Gilbert Mendoza claimed he will order a review of the fight and recommend a rematch. However, their was no mention of Rizzo’s alleged racism. It appears the only discipline Rizzo is receiving is courtesy of the fans. The storm from the fans was so intense, it caused Gloria Martinez-Rizzo to delete her Twitter account.
