BOXING promoter Eddie Hearn says judge Terry O’Connor should be ‘removed’ if it is proved that he was on his phone during the Lewis Ritson versus Miguel Vazquez fight.
A photo is being circulated on social media that appears to show the 67-year-old looking at a mobile as he is seated ringside.
Matchroom boss Hearn, who promoted the show in question that saw Ritson secure a controversial points win, has called for an investigation.
Hearn shared the photo on Twitter, writing: “If that’s a phone (and I presume it is) then then BBBofC should immediately remove him.”
And WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman also retweeted the snap, writing: “This image is extremely troubling to any person involved in boxing”.
In terms of the bout he was judging, O’Connor awarded it to home fighter Ritson, 117-111.
This was despite Sky Sports commentators, pundits and even Hearn himself believing Vazquez had comfortably done enough to win the fight.
Fellow judge Michael Alexander also scored it to Ritson, 115-113 with Marcus McDonnell handing it to the Mexican, 116-113.
SunSport has contacted the British Boxing Board of Control for comment.
It’s not the first-time O’Connor has been caught up in controversy.
He was one of three judges who gave Callum Smith a wide-points win against John Ryder in November last year.
Many thought Ryder had shocked the champ into his first ever loss. O’Connor gave that fight 117-111 too.
The Birmingham judge was also slammed by promoter Mick Hennessey in 2017 when he gave Joseph Parker a 118-110 decision against Hughie Fury.
Hennessey said that O’Connor had ‘buckled under pressure’.
