WBA Prez Wants N'Dam-Murata Rematch, But Says Brant in Line
There has been a lot of controversy over the middleweight title fight which took place on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan.
Hassan N'Dam survived a fourth-round knockdown on and went on to a split-decision win over Japan's Ryota Murata, who won gold at the London Olympics and was making his first world title challenge.
The crowd at Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo jeered after the decision making N'Dam the regular WBA middleweight champ was announced. Two judges scored 116-111 and 115-112 to the French boxer, but one judge gave the fight to Murata at 117-110.
Murata kept edging N'Dam toward the ropes, often landing straights and bringing him down in the fourth. But N'Dam scored effectively with multiple jabs, circling around Murata, especially in the final rounds.
N'Dam, 33, improves to 36-2, 21 knockouts. It was the first loss for the 31-year-old Murata, who has 12 wins, nine by KO, after turning professional four years ago.
Most observers felt Murata was the clear winner of the fight and the Japanese boxer was in full shock when the decision was announced to the local crowd.
World Boxing Association President Gilberto Mendoza is not happy with the controversy and is certainly in favor of an immediate rematch, but there is a mandatory challenger in line for this belt, undefeated contender Rob Brant (22-0, 15 KOs), who certainly will not step aside that easily from his position.
"I am disappointed with the controversy. My goal is to have clear decisions and prove transparency to all boxing fans. I feel tight up when situations like these happen. I would love to call the immediate rematch but we have a mandatory contender in line: Rob Brant. We need to respect due process before taking the decision. But from my side I am in favor of ordering the direct rematch," Mendoza said in a statement to BoxingScene.com.
- See more at:
http://www.boxingscene.com/wba-prez...-says-brant-line--116784#sthash.Xo4UeEP8.dpuf
