BoxRec

116-112 Richards on my card. Coming in, I thought Ramirez would win.

Team Richards prepare WBA appeal following Ramirez 'robbery'

Lerrone Richards will this week launch an appeal to the WBA following his shocking split decision defeat by Albert Ramirez in Montreal.

Richards, 33, somehow ended up on the end of a defeat in the eyes of the judges despite appearing to dominate throughout their 12 rounds at Montreal Casino Thursday night.

Judge Nicolas Esnault had the Londoner winning 116-112 but both Rodolfo Aguilar and Ricardo Duncan scored 115-113 in favor of Ramirez in what was widely considered one of the worst decisions of the year.

The pair had met in a rearranged clash for the WBA interim light heavyweight title and now The Ring has learned that Richards (19-2, 4 KOs) and his management team will lobby the sanctioning body about last week's result.

Having returned to the UK on Friday evening, Richards traveled to central London Monday morning for a meeting with S-Jam to decide how to proceed. It is understood that their appeal will be lodged in the next 48 hours.

Richards told The Ring: "Honestly the last few days have just felt like a blur. It's been three days and been a blur.

"I'm waking up every morning and it’s almost like I'm thinking 'did this actually happen?' It was a robbery, simple as that.
"I need justice in this because he did not win the fight. I've watched it back and even being harsh on myself I won that fight 10-2 in rounds, at worst it was 9-3. That's enough to win a fight, it's not even close.

"I think the result should be overturned and if not, it should be a no contest because I should not have that on my record. The correct thing to do would be order an immediate rematch for the belt."

Richards was supposed to face Venezuelan Ramirez (23-0, 19 KOs) on February 5 but the fight was postponed just 24 hours prior. The WBA confirmed the news after Ramirez was diagnosed with acute appendicitis.

Once Ramirez had recovered, the fight was then rescheduled for June 4. It looked like it had been worth the wait for Richards, who screamed in celebrations at the end of a contest he was certain to have dominated.

After the result was read out, Ramirez is said to have apologized to Richards' trainer Dave Coldwell and admitted the Brit should have got the nod.

Despite the judges' decision, Richards has now entered The Ring's 175-pound rankings at No. 8 while Ramirez, 34, has dropped from No. 3 to No. 9.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑Yesterday, 09:10 Team Richards prepare WBA appeal following Ramirez 'robbery'

Lerrone Richards will this week launch an appeal to the WBA following his shocking split decision defeat by Albert Ramirez in Montreal.

Richards, 33, somehow ended up on the end of a defeat in the eyes of the judges despite appearing to dominate throughout their 12 rounds at Montreal Casino Thursday night.

Judge Nicolas Esnault had the Londoner winning 116-112 but both Rodolfo Aguilar and Ricardo Duncan scored 115-113 in favor of Ramirez in what was widely considered one of the worst decisions of the year.

The pair had met in a rearranged clash for the WBA interim light heavyweight title and now The Ring has learned that Richards (19-2, 4 KOs) and his management team will lobby the sanctioning body about last week's result.

Having returned to the UK on Friday evening, Richards traveled to central London Monday morning for a meeting with S-Jam to decide how to proceed. It is understood that their appeal will be lodged in the next 48 hours.

Richards told The Ring: "Honestly the last few days have just felt like a blur. It's been three days and been a blur.

"I'm waking up every morning and it’s almost like I'm thinking 'did this actually happen?' It was a robbery, simple as that.
"I need justice in this because he did not win the fight. I've watched it back and even being harsh on myself I won that fight 10-2 in rounds, at worst it was 9-3. That's enough to win a fight, it's not even close.

"I think the result should be overturned and if not, it should be a no contest because I should not have that on my record. The correct thing to do would be order an immediate rematch for the belt."

Richards was supposed to face Venezuelan Ramirez (23-0, 19 KOs) on February 5 but the fight was postponed just 24 hours prior. The WBA confirmed the news after Ramirez was diagnosed with acute appendicitis.

Once Ramirez had recovered, the fight was then rescheduled for June 4. It looked like it had been worth the wait for Richards, who screamed in celebrations at the end of a contest he was certain to have dominated.

After the result was read out, Ramirez is said to have apologized to Richards' trainer Dave Coldwell and admitted the Brit should have got the nod.

Despite the judges' decision, Richards has now entered The Ring's 175-pound rankings at No. 8 while Ramirez, 34, has dropped from No. 3 to No. 9.

It's good that his management team is doing this and he might get a rematch. There is no recourse in many of these shit decisions. I remember when Campillo beat Shumenov 9-3 in defending his lt. heavy alphabet belt in 2010 and got screwed by Las Vegas judges and there was never talk of a rematch because he had no pull

Lerrone Richards: 'How will I feed my family?'

Lerrone Richards has been left questioning his next step after his controversial defeat to Albert Ramirez in Canada last week for the WBA interim light heavyweight title.

Almost everyone watching had Richards a clear winner after 12 completed rounds, however, two of the three ringside judges scored the contest in Ramirez's favour.

Richards has been a forgotten man of British boxing in recent years, struggling to land any fights and managing just one contest a year.

Despite his recent inactivity, Richards put on a clinic on away soil, and felt he was in complete control against the undefeated Ramirez.

"I was doing what I wanted, when I wanted, how I wanted,” Richards told Boxing Scene. “Ramirez was trying to apply pressure and I nullified it, beating him from a distance, beating him inside.

"I just took each round as they came. I didn't look too far ahead and each round I felt like I was building momentum. After the bell rang in the 12th round, I thought, 'Yeah, I'm going to be interim world champion.' There were no nerves. I knew I was going to win the fight. I won it so clear. I just had my hand up and wanted to hear it announced.”

Richards thought he had finally changed his life, then the scorecards were read.

"I'd been dreaming about this for weeks,” he said. “Then when I heard 115-113 to him and 116-112 to me, and after that when they said, '115-113 and still...' honestly, my heart, everything, my whole body, just no energy left my body."

The result caused uproar back home in the UK with fans slating the decision on social media. The locals in Canada were also unhappy with the judges’ verdict.

"I walked through the crowd and there was a lot of interaction, people shouting, 'You won, you won.' It was all a blur,” Richards, 19-2 (4 KOs), recalled. “I walked up the stairs, the doctor wanted to have a look at me, and I remember not really wanting to see the doctor because I hardly got hit. Then I went upstairs, walked to the changing rooms and I just broke down. I'll be honest, I'm not going to lie, I broke down."

Even Ramirez, now 23-0 (19 KOs), admitted that he had been lucky to walk away with his belt and undefeated record intact.

"He spoke to my coach and, to be fair to him, told my coach, 'I didn't win that fight. Richards has won. I'm sorry.'” said Richards. "I watched the fight about five times and you can tell he knew after that fight. He was almost like, 'Whoa, I've won?' He almost didn't look happy."

Richards, who has long struggled to get the top names at super middleweight and light heavyweight, is now left in no man's land after the result.

"This is people's lives, man. People's mental health. People don't realise what it does to people,” the 33-year-old said. “People didn't want to fight me before. They just saw me school one of the top guys in the division. Who wants to fight me now?

"If no one wants to fight me, how am I going to get my income to provide for my family? Because as fighters, we have to fight to earn money. If there's no fight, there's no income. There is no money. How am I going to put food on the table for my family?"

Richards revealed that his team is working on an appeal with WBA and that he wants an immediate rematch and the loss struck off his record. He would also be happy to travel back to Canada to settle the score.

"I'll fight anyone, anywhere. I've proven that,” he said. "I just hope that out of a bad situation, something good can come of this."

Lerrone Richards on Albert Ramirez heartbreak: 'I cried like a baby'

It was supposed to be the moment Lerrone Richards’ life changed but the only thing he felt was the energy draining from his body.

The 33-year-old southpaw, a longtime member of boxing’s Who Needs Him? Club, had finally landed the opportunity he had craved for years and it looked as though he had not let it slip.

But after 12 rounds against undefeated Albert Ramirez, two of the three scoring judges somehow thought the Venezuelan had done enough to beat Richards 115-113, or 7-5 in rounds.

“I’m standing there and the decision is getting read out,” Richards tells The Ring. “I’m thinking ‘yeah, I’ve definitely won that fight.’

“I hear the first scorecard, 115-113 Ramirez, and I thought ‘oh no, this can’t be happening.’

“I was shocked, I just shook my head. Then they said 116-112 to me. That’s good but even then I’m thinking that score is a lot closer than reality.

“And then when I heard 115-113 again, I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ Then they said, ‘And still.’ I don’t know what happened then. My hand just dropped and all I felt was all the energy rush out of my body.

“I was … in shock.”

As was almost everyone who watched the showdown at Montreal Casino on Thursday night. Even Ramirez, the beneficiary of the decision, could not believe it.

“Ramirez came over and apologised,” Richards adds. “Because even he knew he lost. He even told my coach Dave Coldwell. He apologised to Dave and said ‘I'm sorry. Richards won that fight.’

"Fair play to him for saying that but at the same time, it doesn't make it easier, you know? I mean, I was heartbroken.”

Boxing history is littered with incorrect decisions, some are close but others are hard to comprehend. The two 115-113 scorecards in favour of Ramirez (23-0, 19 KOs) fall into the latter.

“My performance was tactically perfect,” says Richards, who scored himself a 118-110 winner after watching the fight back. “I was comfortable. I was out-landing, boxing outside, inside, shutting things down when I needed to, I wasn't getting caught with anything clean. I was controlling the whole fight.

“When the bell went, I remember I was so happy because all the hard work throughout the years had paid off. Not just in the two training camps I had for Ramirez, because the first fight was postponed, but all that hard work had all paid off.

“I ran to the corner, jumped on the ropes and screamed to high heavens, thinking that my life has changed, my children's lives have changed. My mum and dad's lives have changed. Everyone's life is going to change now.

“I've done my part. I've achieved what I've always wanted to achieve. For it to be taken away from me is not right.”

As revealed by The Ring on Monday, Richards and his S-Jam management team are now preparing an appeal to the WBA, who sanctioned the fight for their interim light-heavyweight title. Richards hopes for an immediate rematch at the very least but believes the defeat should be scrubbed from his record.

“I kind of held myself together once I heard the result,” he says. “I walked upstairs to the changing room like a zombie, if I'm honest.

“And I'm not going to lie, man, when I got there I just started crying. I was devastated. I’m a grown man and I’m not much of a crier but I cried like a baby.

“I do this for my family, I do it for my mum, my dad, my two baby boys. Of course I do it for myself but people are counting on me. If I get beaten by the better man I can look at myself and know I need to improve here or there.

“But if I win a fight by 10 rounds, what can you do? At that point they should give me the decision.”

Despite his record currently showing a defeat, Richards was a new entry in The Ring’s latest light-heavyweight rankings, entering at No. 8 while Ramirez dropped from No. 3 to No. 9.

“The silver lining is that people saw a glimpse of how good I can be,” Richards says. “That was not even 60 per cent of me in that ring and I can do much more and that’s frightening.

“I just took someone ranked No. 3 with Ring Magazine to school. My new ranking means the world to me and now I hope the WBA make the correct decision and I can put it right in the ring.”