Nevada Athletic Commission Steals Andrew Moloney Victory
The Nevada Athletic Commission once again embarrassed themselves. No, the judges did not give out the wrong decision as the usual. The Nevada Athletic Commission wrongfully declared a bout a no-contest due to a head-butt and robbed Andrew Moloney winning the WBA Super-Flyweight title belt.
In their second bout, Andrew Moloney vs Joshua Franco, Moloney landed a jab that caused swelling on Franco’s right eye in the first round. Referee Russell Mora incorrectly ruled that the swelling was caused by a clash of heads. After the second round, the ringside doctor stopped the fight due to the swelling.
Since the swelling was ruled a head-butt, the bout was ruled a no-contest. Moloney’s team rightfully disputed the head-butt. The Nevada Athletic Commission used instant-replay procedures to verify if the swelling was caused by either a head-butt or a punch. After twenty-six minutes, the Nevada Athletic Commission confirmed a non-existent head-butt and ruled the bout a no-contest.
The controversial ending needs to be a wake-up call to the Nevada Athletic Commission’s instant-replay procedures. The purpose of instant-replay is to verify the ruling of a referee. The NBA, MLB, and NFL all commonly use instant-replay. However, their instant-replay verification takes no longer than five minutes and their rulings rarely have pushback from the fans.
The Nevada Athletic Commission is no stranger to controversy. Every year boxing judges and referees hand out wrong decisions and receive push back from the combat sports community. I have become numb to seeing live boxing bouts wrongfully decided. Long overdue, the Nevada Athletic Commission added instant replay procedures this year. This begs the question, why did the Nevada Athletic Commission take so long to verify their ruling? More importantly, why did they wrongfully rule the decision of the head-butt?
The Nevada Athletic Commission needs to take a serious look back at this bout. Reason being it is a perfect example for how not to handle the instant replay procedure. The verification shouldn’t have taken twenty-six minutes, and whoever verified that they saw the non-existent head-butt, should not be allowed to verify bouts again. Boxing careers dramatically change by a win or a loss. The Nevada Athletic Commission needs to reform or they will continue robbing boxers’ wins.
