By Scott Gilfoid: Unbeaten Ryan Burnett (17–0, 9 KOs) unseated International Boxing Federation World bantamweight champion Lee Haskins (34–4, 14 KOs) by a 12 round split decision on Saturday night.
Bengaluru. Ryan Burnett’s split decision win over Briton Lee Haskins in Belfast on Saturday (10/06) for the world bantamweight title was scored incorrectly and should have been an unanimous win, the International Boxing Federation has said.
- Ryan Burnett on June 10th, LIVE on AWE. June 2nd, 2017 — Comments Closed Bantamweight world champion Lee Haskins will attempt to protect his IBF title for a third fight, this time.
- Ryan Burnett has won the IBF bantamweight title after producing a masterclass to defeat defending champion Lee Haskins via a farcical split decision.
- The fight was announced as a split decision, as two judges had Burnett winning 119–107 but a third, Clark Sammartino, had him Burnett losing 118–108 although Burnett was a clear winner. An IBF statement said there had been an ‘error with the scorecards’ and the decision should have been unanimous.
- Ryan Burnett’s world title victory over Lee Haskins was scored incorrectly and should have been a unanimous decision, says the IBF.
The Northern Irishman knocked down defending champion Haskins in the sixth and 11th rounds with two of the three judges handing him favorable scorecards of 119–107 but the last judge, American Clark Sammartino, scored him losing 118–108.
The 25-year-old’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, had called for an investigation into the decision after the fight and the IBF confirmed that Sammartino had made an error.
Lee Haskins Vs Ryan Burnett
‘On Saturday, the IBF bantamweight bout between Lee Haskins and Ryan Burnett held at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Ireland was ruled a split decision victory for Burnett as a result of an error with the scorecards,’ the IBF said in a statement.
‘Due to this error… the bout was declared a split decision when it should have been ruled a unanimous decision in favor of Burnett. An error of this nature and at this level of the sport should not have occurred.’
‘The IBF remains committed to recommending qualified and reliable officials to work its sanctioned bouts, and is fully intent on deterring a situation such as this one from occurring again in the future.’
Reuters
At the SSE Arena, Belfast, Ryan Burnett dominated reigning champion Lee Haskins to remain unbeaten and claim the IBF Bantamweight title. Burnett bagged a bizarre Split Decision (more on that below), taking the belt on two scores of 119–107, with Haskins taking a 118–108 tally. BB saw the action 119–107, Burnett.
The official verdict was highly controversial, although it’s very plausible that judge Clark Sammartino actually tallied matters correctly, with his major blunder being that he simply “ticked the wrong box”, as promoter Eddie Hearn also suspected post fight. We can now sit back and wait for the good people of the Twitterverse to go nuts.
Ryan Burnett Vs Lee Haskins Married
Following this career-defining win, Burnett jumps to 17 wins, 9 knockouts, while Haskins falls to 34 wins, 4 defeats, 14 knockouts.
Amidst numerous head clashes — more owed to a clash of styles than foul play — Burnett conclusively bossed the action, scoring two knockdowns, both from rocket right hands, in the 6th and 11th stanzas. The quicker, technically superior Burnett, however, was unable to stop a tough, valiant Haskins, who fought on gamely despite suffering a possible right shoulder injury in the 6th.
Ryan Burnett now enters a deep Bantamweight scene, filled with plenty of stern tests and the unbeaten elite, Shinsuke Yamanaka, who leads the Top 10.
Haskins vs Burnett: Undercard
- Cruiserweight climber Luke Watkins (11–0, 7 KO) made quick work of challenger Ian Tims (13–4, 4 KO), bossing the action en route to a 4th round knockout.
- James Tennyson (19–2, 15 KO) continued his comeback with win number three, here retiring Ryan Doyle (14–2–1, 8 KO) in the 6th round. Tennyson, who was stopped by Ryan Walsh last April, continues on the Junior Lightweight trail.
- Lightweight startup Paul Hyland Jr (16–0, 6 KO) wasted no time against an overwhelmed Adam Dingsdale (16–4–1, 4 KO), ruthlessly wiping out his man in the opener to land the European belt.
- Mike Perez (22–2–1, 14 KO) ended a two-year layoff with a forgettable encounter against Viktor Biscak (10–1, 7 KO). Biscak retired himself from the Cruiserweight bout after being dropped shortly after the first bell. On the plus side, Perez, who was crushed by Alexander Povetkin in 2015, looks to be in fine shape physically, supposedly now rebuilt for what could be a promising run down at Cruiser.
- Feargal McCrory (6–0, 3 KO) added another win to his building Junior Lightweight campaign with a 2nd round stoppage of Paul Holt (6–5, 2 KO).
- Matthew Wilton (16–0, 3 KO) was unable to stop William Warburton (23–116–9, 4 KO), but had zero problems trumping the extremely well-travelled journeyman over six rounds. Scorecards for the Junior Middleweight encounter came in at 60–54.
Give us your take on Lee Haskins vs Ryan Burnett in the comments, plus the rest of the Belfast lineup.
