Boxing Suffers First Black Eye of 2013!

Barthelemy (right) traps Usmanee (left) on the ropes.

It's been barely a month since the new year arrived, and already, there's controversy involved. Two unbeaten fighters were pitted against each other for the chance to fight for the IBF's #2 ranking in the super featherweight division. Arash Usmanee (20-1, 10 KOs) thought he had the fight in the bag against Rances Barthelemy (18-0, 11 KOs), and so did the fans at ringside. Unfortunately, the judges saw it otherwise. The scorecards read 116-112 twice, and 115-113 all controversially for Barthelemy. These boxing commissions need to hire better judges who are focused on who is actually winning the fight. It's a shame that the judges robbed the true winner of the decision. I should be a judge because I focus on what fighters do to win fights. Boxing suffers the first black eye of 2013, and it definitely won't be the last.