The World Boxing Council is set to review the tape of the fight between Filipino Jerope Mercado and South African Vusi Malinga last February 2 at the Nasrex Indoor Arena in South Africa after the Filipino camp protested the result, insisting that Mercado did enough to win the fight.
The duo battled to a split draw in their fight for the WBC International bantamweight crown.
WBC International chairman Mauro Betti, in an email to this writer, said that they will examine the fight tape and determine if there was enough reason to order a rematch.
“It is now clear that it was controversial and that the final decision was heavily argued by the Philippine’s handlers…I believe it is important we examine the tape of the fight and see if there are good reasons to order an immediate rematch,” Bette said in his message after hearing the explanation of fight supervisor Peter Ngatane.
Earlier, Mercado’s manager Rex ‘Wakee’ Salud, a huge supporter of the WBC in this part of the world, loudly protested the outcome of the fight, describing it as a ‘robbery’ and pointing out that in South Africa, there is no way to win a fight if you do not knock out your opponent.
The WBC should rectify these developments in South Africa, especially in light of the previous Randy Suico-Mzonke Fana fight which was also highly controversial in nature when Fana won the 12-round WBC eliminator despite repeated trips to the canvas and barely making it to the final round. Fana was next seen easily blown away by Marco Antonio Barrera in two short rounds.
Betti, a highly-respected boxing leader who is a true credit to the WBC, immediately burn the lines when informed of the recent disputable result in the Mercado-Malinga fight.
Mercado’s trainer Juanito Ablaca approached the fight supervisor after the fight, asking for the official scores and asked how his boy had lost a fight he clearly won, although Ngatane pointed out the Filipino trainer was not at all convinced with the explanation.
