The Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA) has overturned the verdict of the controversial bout between Ayitey Powers and Beninoise Victor Kpadenue at the Globe Cinema at Adabraka, last November 2.
The catchweight contest staged by Arthur Don Promotions generated a lot of furore after the Ghanaian was declared winner in what most spectators perceived to be a travesty of justice.
Subsequently, Kpadenue's camp lodged a protest to the sport's national governing body, which reviewed the fight and based on the evidence before it reversed the verdict to a 2-1 victory in favour of the Beninoise.
The GBA, which is mandated to alter, nullify or confirm the judgement, stated that the result was "too clear to be debated" and also the judges who scored the fight in favour of the local fighter committed "genuine human errors".
Following the review, Kpadenue was declared winner on a 2-1 decision. The new scores by the judges are as follows: Clement Ashong (77-74 — Kpadenue), Confidence Hiagbe (78-75 — Powers) and Emmanuel Brenya (78-74 — Kpadenue). The new twist, according to the GBA, is in line with its desire to restore sanity in the sports but was not motivated by the hostile reaction by the fans after the earlier verdict.
During the review, the GBA uncovered some bizarre circumstances that resulted in the controversial verdict. The errors were, in part, due to the wrong placement of both boxers in their corners, which may have confused the judges during scoring.
For instance, if a judge scored for the red corner, he would be scoring for Powers instead of the Beninoise. The error though was reportedly detected by one of the judges, Clement Ashong, who effected the necessary change immediately scored it in favour Kpadenue.
