BRITISH boxing official Ian John-Lewis has been relegated over his woeful scoring in Josh Taylor’s ‘win’ over Jack Catterall.
The former fighter inexplicably scored the bout 114-111 to the Scottish undisputed super-lightweight champ, in his Glasgow homecoming, helping hand the innocent ace a split-decision win.
Catterall put on a career-best performance in his undisputed 140lb clash with Taylor
But he was robbed of victory due to some controversial scorecards
Almost the entire sport was sickened by John-Lewis’ and Victor Loughlin’s 113-112 card.
And the Gillingham man has been bumped off top-level UK shows for an undisclosed period.
The BBBofC will also now implement annual reviews of their officials and have asked the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO to all make Catterall mandatory challenger for their fragmented belts.
A statement from the British Boxing Board of Control said: “Following an internal review of the scoring of the Josh Taylor v Jack Catterall contest by all three appointed judges, the Stewards of the Board decided to call Mr. Ian John-Lewis to appear before them to explain his returned card.
“Having considered Mr. Ian John-Lewis’ explanation, the Stewards of the Board decided to downgrade Mr. John-Lewis from an A Star Class to an A Class Official.
“Whilst the Board were satisfied that Mr. John-Lewis’ scorecard did not affect the overall result of the contest, the Stewards of the Board did have issue with his margin.
“As the regulatory body for the Sport in Great Britain the British Boxing Board of Control continue to improve and maintain the high quality and consistency in scoring by our licensed officials.
“As such, the Stewards of the Board have further decided that in addition to each A Star Class Official being evaluated after each bout, as per current procedure, they will now also be subject to a separate individual annual review.
“Finally, the British Boxing Board of Control have contacted the WBO, WBC, IBF and WBA supporting Jack Catterall to be made mandatory challenger for each or all Championship Sanctioning Bodies.”
Taylor is expected to vacate all of his 10st titles to move up to welterweight.
It seems unlikely all four sanctioning bodies will agree on giving Catterall an instant shot at their belts.
But the Chorley man remains the uncrowned world champion in the eyes of almost everyone involved in the sport.
