Kiwi Mea Motu’s world title defence has been hit by controversy after her trainer Isaac Peach today threatened to withdraw her from the fight against Ellen Simwaka due to his concerns about the referee.
Ignatius Missilaidus is scheduled to referee Motu’s IBO super bantamweight fight at Auckland’s Eventfinda Stadium on Saturday, along with another fight featuring one of Peach’s other high-profile boxers Jerome Pampellone, a light heavyweight.
But in the wake of Missilaidus’ judging performance in Sydney last night when he was very much a dissenting voice in a trio overseeing Kiki Toa Leutele’s heavyweight fight against Toese Vousiutu, Peach has threatened to take the nuclear option.
Leutele, another Peach fighter, won by split decision over Vousiutu, with two judges awarding the fight to Leutele 76-75 and Missilaidus judging Vousiutu the winner 78-73.
The result meant Leutele, who bounced back from an early knockdown, won by split decision but that was cold comfort for Peach, who accused Missilaidus of incompetence and called the decision "disgusting".
Others felt the same way. The Courier Mail’s Peter Badel said: “The scorecard that went to Vousiutu 78-73, that’s a joke, seriously. He fought well, Vousiutu, but he didn’t win that many rounds despite the knockdown.”
“As Mea’s coach I’m not having it,” Peach said in today’s press conference at David Tua’s Onehunga gym.
“We won’t come out. I know [promoter] Dean [Lonergan] and the sanctioning bodies is a big club and everyone loves each other but mate we don’t care.
“That was disgusting last night. Peach Boxing will not be getting in the ring with a referee like that. I’ve had emails from the sanctioning bodies saying he [Missilaidus] is an incompetent judge, well why the hell on a TV card, with Kiki Toa putting his career on the line… it’s not okay.
“We need to find a better person for the job.
“At this level you don’t get scores that wrong.”
Lonergan said the officials for the event, also featuring heavyweight world champion Lani Daniels in a unique women’s boxing co-main event, would arrive this afternoon and that he would meet with them tomorrow before the weigh-ins.
“Not walking out if we get this referee is the first I’ve heard of it and it’s a bit of a shock,” Lonergan said. “We obviously have a lot of talking to do and we have to sort this out.
“I’ve known Isaac Peach for quite some time and he’s one of the most passionate if not the most passionate man I’ve met in my life and it’s fair to say once he has a bee in his bonnet he doesn’t let it go too easily. But I do know that all he wants is fair results… we obviously have a lot of discussions to make.”
Peach added: “It’ll be very interesting. I’ve been in this sport for 25 years and this sort of stuff happens all the time and no one ever does anything about it and in a week it will be forgotten.
“I want to make a stand. I can’t put a couple of my top fighters in a ring with a referee who can’t be trusted – for safety, and for the honesty of the sport. I don’t think it’s fair to have visitors coming a long way for this either.”
There is a New Zealand precedent as far as changing boxing referees is concerned. In 2017, promoter David Higgins, upset about the choice of referee for Joseph Parker’s fight against Hughie Fury in Manchester, successfully made a change.
In that case, the British official Terry O’Connor, was appointed as a judge instead and ruled heavily in Parker’s favour for the Kiwi’s majority decision win.
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