Armenian boxers exit World Cup after controversial judging

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia’s boxing federation condemns controversial refereeing after two fighters lose bouts at World Boxing Cup, calling decisions illogical and deeply unfair.

Armenian boxers Artur Bazeyan and Ararat Harutyunyan have been eliminated from the World Boxing Cup organized by World Boxing following controversial refereeing decisions, the Armenian Boxing Federation reported.

The federation described what happened as “illogical and extremely unfair refereeing.”

“Disgraceful refereeing at the World Boxing Cup organized by WORLD BOXING. Due to actions devoid of refereeing logic, defeats were recorded today for Artur Bazeyan and Ararat Harutyunyan. Bazeyan fought against Paris Olympic silver medalist Munarbek Uulu of Kyrgyzstan.

In the first round, our boxer won 5:0, while in the second the judges awarded the same score to the opponent. In the third round, Bazeyan pressed forward and scored points. In one episode, a clash resulted in an injury to the opponent’s eyebrow. The ring referee immediately stopped the fight, although there was no medical necessity to do so. At the same time, although the advantage was on Bazeyan’s side, the side judges awarded the victory to the representative of Kyrgyzstan.

There were also unclear and illogical actions during Ararat Harutyunyan’s bout. Our athlete had a clear advantage in the second and third rounds, while his opponent, Ricardo Cuello, had received a warning from the referee, yet at the end of the bout, surprisingly, the hand of the Dominican Republic representative was raised. This was another vivid example of disgraceful refereeing, as a result of which our two strongest boxers were eliminated from the competition,” the statement said.