Technical issues have prevented instant replay technology from being used in Saturday’s battle between Jevonta Davis and Lamont Rooch, according to the New York State Athletics Board.
WBA lightweight champion Davis was on his knees with Roach in the ninth round, allowing him to wipe his eyes after complaining that grease from Blaze was plaguing him.
“I just had her do my hair two days ago and she put grease on my s***,” Davis later explained. “As you sweat and s*** like that, grease came into my face and it burned my eyes.”
Seconds before Davis fell to one knee, he was hit with his left hand by Roach, the Reigning WBA Super Featherweight champion. Veteran umpire Steve Willis began managing the 10 count for Davis after grabbing his knee, but inexplicably stopped and ultimately decided not to take control of the knockdown.
Davis’ improvisational kneeling should have been counted as a knockdown as boxing rules were clear when the fighters didn’t call their own timeouts. If Davis’s knee had been dominated as a knockdown, Roach won the contest with two of the judge’s three scorecards, pulling away a huge upset by one of the sport’s bigger stars. Instead, the match ended with a controversial majority draw.
The NYSAC uses instant replay technology to override the judge’s decision if the committee feels these decisions are incorrect. Recently in February, on the Dennis Belinch Undercard of Keyshawn Davis vs. New York, Connor Coyle suffered a cut across his left eye during his battle with Vitomiel Niki. The use of NYSAC’s instant replay rejected that decision. That is, if the fight stopped due to the cut, Mielnicki would have been declared the winner rather than going for a technical decision.
A similar reversal was not possible on Saturday due to technical issues, according to the NYSAC.
“During the round of question, there was a technical issue that prevented the committee from receiving it within the allocated time for review, in accordance with the committee’s request for a replay video,” a NYSAC spokesman said in a statement. “Therefore, decisions within the umpire ring depended on and the fight continued.
“The committee is dedicated to maintaining the integrity of combat sports and is working with all promotional and production teams on behalf of athletes, officials and fans to ensure that no technical issues hampering the supply of ringside instant replays, if necessary.”
NYSAC is currently reviewing the issue. The committee has the ability to retroactively overturn Willis’s call on Saturday and therefore change the outcome of the match, but such a move is rare in boxing.
WBA president Gilberto Mendoza also showed the ring that he was “settled” in pursuit of an immediate rematch between Davis and Roach.
The WBA has the power to order Davis to face the cockroach again, or Davis could be stripped of his belt. Davis also had a one-way rematch clause in his contract with Roach if he did not appear as a winner.
Both fighters show their desire for a social media rematch for a controversial few days after the match.
