The Games and Amusements Board (GAB)-Cebu satellite office has sanctioned referee Steve Blanco for gross negligence and incompetence in officiating the boxing match between Leon Maratas of Loon, Bohol and Lotlot Gaviola of Butuan City last Friday night at the Mandaue City Cultural and Sports Complex.
The Maratas-Gaviola brawl was one of the undercards of the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Asia Pacific minimumweight title clash between Donnie “The Snakeman” Nietes of the ALA Stable and Indonesian Heri Amol. Nietes won by second round knockout.
“We will no longer allow him (Blanco) to referee in any GAB-sanctioned pro boxing matches for the rest of the year. We will thoroughly evaluate his performance to determine whether or not we are going to renew his license next year. For the time being, his status is ‘grounded’,” said GAB-Cebu supervisor Lando Mendoza.
In a very sloppy performance, Blanco allowed Gaviola to hit Maratas with at least six low blows before stopping the match and awarding the Boholano boxer with a victory by disqualification in round seven.
Three of Gaviola’s below-the-belt punches sent Maratas flat on the mat grimacing in pain.
In the first four rounds, Gaviola already committed three illegal blows. Although Blanco slapped a one-point deduction against Gaviola, he did not bother to warn nor reprimand the Butuan visitor for his misconduct.
Perhaps thinking that his acts were just alright because Blanco tolerated it, Gaviola kept on his antics resulting into two more illegal blows in round five that flattened Maratas in those instances.
Maratas dropped his own low blow that knocked down Gaviola in round six. After Gaviola got up, the fight went on as if nothing had happened.
But Gaviola again landed a low blow that floored Maratas for the third time. It was at this moment Blanco has awakened from what he described later as a “mental block”, quickly waving off the bout at 1:55 of the seventh round.
“We have to sanction him because we’re greatly affected by his performance,” said Mendoza, who even had to remind Blanco to wipe the boxing gloves after a boxer fell onto the canvass.
At one point when he told the two protagonists to break up, Blanco tapped Gaviola a bit hard, forcing the already worn out boxer to fall down.
Surprisingly, Blanco enforced the mandatory count as if the knockdown was caused by a legitimate blow, forcing the spectators to burst into laughters.
There was also an instance when Blanco forgot to order Gaviola to go to the neutral corner after giving Maratas a five-minute rest once he got hit by a low blow.
GAB Head Office Supervisor Tony Comea later said: “I was very disgusted. Even after three illegal blows, a referee can disqualify a boxer. I couldn’t understand why he didn’t do it.”
