Atwell is clear winner of the WBC/CABOFE junior welterweight title – GBBC

GUYANA’S Clive `The Punisher’ Atwell has been cleared of any wrongdoings during his recent World Boxing Council’s (WBC) CABOFE junior welterweight title fight against Jamaica’s Sakima Mullings on February 21.According to a release from the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC), a formal petition was received from Mullings for a review of the bout which took place at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall between himself and Atwell.

With that in mind, an in-depth review of the recorded bout was undertaken by a committee appointed by the supervisor of bouts and president of the WBC Caribbean Boxing Federation, Peter Abdool, who also stewards the GBBC.
Mulling’s petition was presented on the basis of questionable calls by the referee in which he felt specifically: that the cut he suffered over his left eye in round six (6) was caused by a head butt which may have been, in his opinion, either accidental or deliberate but in any case, not caused by a legal punch as indicated by the referee (Eion Jardine).
The rules applicable to this type of injury are specified in the World Boxing Council (WBC) Rules for Championship Fights clauses 13 and 14 which state as follows:
(Accidental Injuries from head butts, elbows, or other Accidental or Illegal Actions (injury) – The following description applies to injuries from not only head butts and elbows, but from any other accidental or illegal action as well as unintentional/accidental injury: When a boxer suffers a cut, abrasion, or excessive swelling due to an unintentional/accidental head butt, elbow, etc if the bout cannot continue there will not be a point deduction.
Mullings also claimed that throughout the duration of the bout Atwell continuously held him without stern warning or points deducted.
Also late in the bout, he (Mullings) felt that he had knocked Atwell down and that the knockdown was improperly ruled a slip by the referee thereby depriving him of one point which would have been deducted from Atwell had the knockdown been properly called by the referee.
According to the GBBC’s release, the fight was very well recorded and clear and consistent with Mulling’s petition, the entire recording of the fight was closely scrutinised by the committee.
The aspects of the fight under review were strictly those which could be proved referee errors as only these are correctable/reversible upon review. It is noteworthy that point deductions or lack thereof for holding are not reversible as they are given or not, solely at the discretion of the referee, the release stated.
For purposes of clarity, the points under review were: Whether the cut suffered to Mullings was occasioned by a head butt or a legal punch, and if determined as having been caused by a head butt, whether that head butt was intentional or accidental determining whether a one-point or two-point deduction was applicable as per the above rules.
The findings of the committee the release stated are: Round six (6) was carefully scrutinised for the cause of the cut that Mullings suffered. It was determined that there was absolutely no clash of heads at or around the time of the cut.
The cut was clearly seen on the video to have been inflicted by a clean right hand punch from Atwell. The referee’s call was correct.
There were four (4) occasions on which Atwell went to the canvas but all were not from punches that connected to the Guyanese and so the referee’s ruling was correct.
The referee, the release stated, was questioned by the committee as to his judgment and asked to convey his thoughts at the time and his reaction as to this particular incident.
He has stated that he considered the blow to have been illegal, opted not to warn Mullings because he did not consider it deliberate particularly as Atwell was moving forward at the time partially contributing to where the blow landed.
Further, he did not deem Atwell’s knee on the canvas as being a knockdown as he felt that Atwell’s forward momentum contributed far more significantly to his knee touching the canvas than did the blow.
Notwithstanding this, the committee found that the referee ought to have called an illegal blow and issued a warning to Mullings or in the absence of such a warning, which would have determined the illegality of the blow, he should have called it a knockdown.
The committee, the release stated, considers Jardine’s failure to have called the blow as illegal as his tacit approval of it as legal. In consequence, the committee finds that this should have been called a knockdown and accordingly scored it as a point to be deducted from Atwell.
In summation, the committee found that there is no merit in the complaint that Mullings was cut by an accidental or deliberate head butt.
That there is merit in Mulling’s complaint that one of the four instances in which Atwell touched the canvas may have been as a result of a legal bow by virtue of the referee having failed to issue a warning to Mullings which would have indicated it to have been an illegal blow.
Consequently, a point has been deducted from Atwell on all scorecards consistent with a knockdown in round eleven. Of significant note, the one point taken from Atwell on each scorecard does not materially change the outcome of the fight.
In support of the committee’s findings, a copy of the unedited recording used in the review will be broadcast nationwide in Guyana over the weekend and the GBBC will also make it available to Jamaican Broadcasters.

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