Studdard lodged a formal complaint with BSA whose CEO Nsikayezwe Sithole said they would get to the bottom of the issue.
“It was then that I handed the belt to BSA for safekeeping,” said Studdard. “But before the outcome of that investigation, Akani had already received the belt, and that hurt me badly.
“Couldn’t BSA wait for the outcome; could they not also inform me of the outcome? How can I trust such a regulator? I have since developed a hatred for boxing; my heart is very sore. I mean I was crowned a champion by two judges and the next thing I lost the fight outside the ring by a unanimous points decision.”
Interestingly, one of the “two new” judges who has been around for over a year, vehemently denied making a blunder. His letter to Sowetan read: “As per norm, being a title bout we were each given 12 score sheets, each to be submitted at the end of every round. The score sheets already had names written on them with Studdard in the red corner and Sambo in the blue corner.
“But before the bout started, the referee ... allocated Studdard to the blue corner and Sambo to the red corner as per the reflection on the programme,” he continued in his letter.
“Then the referee informed us to effect the changes, so I changed all my score sheets and wrote the boxers’ names afresh, bearing Sambo on the red corner and Studdard on the blue corner. Then I scored the bout as according to the boxer’s names and corners from round 1 to the last, and I submitted a score sheet at the end of each round.
“At the end of round 12 there was an unusual delay in announcing the results and it was evident that the results were still held by the WBF fight supervisor.
“I could hear the irritated fans shouting that the results were still being cooked. The fight supervisor [Goldberg] summoned me to his table and asked me ‘who was your winner’? I indicated that it was Sambo in the red corner.
“There was still further delay in announcing the results when he summoned me for the second time and told me that I had made a ‘mess’.
“He didn’t indicate to me what mess I had made; instead, he cautioned me that I shouldn’t speak to anyone about the results. Then, to my dismay, when the results were announced my scores were swapped, what I had awarded to Sambo was given to Studdard, and vice versa.
“It became crystal clear to me that there was a predetermined winner before the fight and the favourite failing to live up to standard ... I inferred that was the mess.
“What I couldn’t understand was that no matter what, he was still made a winner on the table. After the results were announced, we had an informal meeting with the referee who was accusing the other official of causing a split.
“It was clear that she was satisfied with Studdard as the winner of the bout.”
The judge added that when he left the venue around 7.30pm, Studdard was still taking photos and inquiring about the whereabouts of the fight supervisor to grant him the bag for his belt.
Said Studdard: “Boxing SA took away history from me after I had become the first boxer, probably, throughout the world, to win a title in a tournament staged by his mother."
Studdard quits boxing, accuses BSA of unfair treatment
WBF title belt handed over to SA boxer’s losing opponent
Image: supplied
Charismatic fighter and crowd puller Joshua “TKO” Studdard from Sophiatown has decided to hang up his gloves.
He says his decision follows the unfair treatment he received from the office of Boxing SA (BSA), which he says took away his World Boxing Federation (WBF) Intercontinental bantamweight belt he won against Akani Sambo and handed it over to the boxer he beat.
He says he had handed over the belt to BSA for “safe keeping” while the warning by WBF president Howard Goldberg to return it or face the law was being investigated.
Goldberg said Studdard lost that fight.
Goldberg supervised the 10 rounder, which was staged by Studdard’s mother, Euphy Studdard at Propaganda in Pretoria on October 1 last year.
He said two “new” judges had made a mistake by scoring the bout according to the colours, not according to the boxers’ names.
“We corrected our score 15 minutes after the judges informed me that they had scored for Akani Sambo to win the fight by unanimous decision," said Goldberg, who blamed the television crew for telling the two boxers to switch corners when they got inside the ring.
All bets should be on me, says Studdard
Studdard lodged a formal complaint with BSA whose CEO Nsikayezwe Sithole said they would get to the bottom of the issue.
“It was then that I handed the belt to BSA for safekeeping,” said Studdard. “But before the outcome of that investigation, Akani had already received the belt, and that hurt me badly.
“Couldn’t BSA wait for the outcome; could they not also inform me of the outcome? How can I trust such a regulator? I have since developed a hatred for boxing; my heart is very sore. I mean I was crowned a champion by two judges and the next thing I lost the fight outside the ring by a unanimous points decision.”
Interestingly, one of the “two new” judges who has been around for over a year, vehemently denied making a blunder. His letter to Sowetan read: “As per norm, being a title bout we were each given 12 score sheets, each to be submitted at the end of every round. The score sheets already had names written on them with Studdard in the red corner and Sambo in the blue corner.
“But before the bout started, the referee ... allocated Studdard to the blue corner and Sambo to the red corner as per the reflection on the programme,” he continued in his letter.
“Then the referee informed us to effect the changes, so I changed all my score sheets and wrote the boxers’ names afresh, bearing Sambo on the red corner and Studdard on the blue corner. Then I scored the bout as according to the boxer’s names and corners from round 1 to the last, and I submitted a score sheet at the end of each round.
“At the end of round 12 there was an unusual delay in announcing the results and it was evident that the results were still held by the WBF fight supervisor.
“I could hear the irritated fans shouting that the results were still being cooked. The fight supervisor [Goldberg] summoned me to his table and asked me ‘who was your winner’? I indicated that it was Sambo in the red corner.
“There was still further delay in announcing the results when he summoned me for the second time and told me that I had made a ‘mess’.
“He didn’t indicate to me what mess I had made; instead, he cautioned me that I shouldn’t speak to anyone about the results. Then, to my dismay, when the results were announced my scores were swapped, what I had awarded to Sambo was given to Studdard, and vice versa.
“It became crystal clear to me that there was a predetermined winner before the fight and the favourite failing to live up to standard ... I inferred that was the mess.
“What I couldn’t understand was that no matter what, he was still made a winner on the table. After the results were announced, we had an informal meeting with the referee who was accusing the other official of causing a split.
“It was clear that she was satisfied with Studdard as the winner of the bout.”
The judge added that when he left the venue around 7.30pm, Studdard was still taking photos and inquiring about the whereabouts of the fight supervisor to grant him the bag for his belt.
Said Studdard: “Boxing SA took away history from me after I had become the first boxer, probably, throughout the world, to win a title in a tournament staged by his mother."
Knapp out to prove his mettle in IBO title fight
In her sweet and short statement, Euphy who is the sister to the late former Gauteng middleweight champ Cameron “Kangaroo” Adams, said: “If Joshua lost the fight it’s fine but do it the right way and do not allow a boxer to go home as a champion and a day or two later you say ‘no bring back that belt’; that’s being insensitive towards his feelings.”
The board of BSA that was in charge has since left the office. Its three-year term expired on December 12.
Studdard had been a professional boxer since 2012, during which, he fought only 13 times, knocking out eight of his 10 opponents.
He was under the guidance of grossly underestimated boxing tutor Warren Hulley who guided Mlungisi “Killer Shark” Dlamini from Esilkhawini in KwaZulu-Natal to winning the World Boxing Foundation and International Boxing Organization lightweight belts.
Studdard later joined Manny Fernandez, another accomplished mentor, who is credited for taking boxers from zero to hero and the list includes Isaac “The Angel” Hlatshwayo who rose from being the 2001 Prospect of the Year award winner to bagging the IBO belt in two weight divisions.
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