Top journalist has his say on Brodie-Chi
Posted: 19 Oct 2003, 09:09
By Mark Staniforth, PA Sport
A man in a suit ruined one of the best world-title fights seen in a British ring for a decade at the MEN Arena in Manchester on Saturday night.
Michael Brodie and Injin Chi had fought themselves to a bloody standstill after 12 rounds of their clash for the vacant WBC featherweight title.
But then WBC president Jose Sulaiman waddled onto centre stage and stole the headlines away from two terrific fighters.
After lengthy conferring South Korean Chi was initially declared the winner of the title by a narrow 114-112, 113-112, 113-113 majority verdict.
But over half an hour later following frantic backstage analysis of the scorecards, Sulaiman claimed he had made a mistake and adjusted the second scorecard to 113-113, declaring the outcome a majority draw.
Sulaiman claimed he had made the ludicrous mistake of accidentally deducting two points from Brodie on the second card instead of one for an accidental first round headbutt.
Under a bizarre WBC rule, the perpetrator of a butt must have a point deducted even if it is deemed accidental. Referee Daniel Van Der Wiele added to the confusion by failing to signify the deduction clearly.
In a chaotic post-fight press conference in Chi's dressing room - with the Korean sitting devastated only yards behind him - Sulaiman said: "I don't blame anybody except myself - it is my mistake.
"I deducted in the first round two points from Brodie when I should have deducted only one because of the foul which is a one-point deduction by the WBC.
"Due to this the scoring of 113-112 in favour of Chi is adjusted and it means a majority draw.
"It was a very, very, very tough fight. As far as I am concerned it was one of the fights of the year.
"The title remains vacant and most probably we are going to order another fight between the two fighters."
Brodie left the arena without commenting but was informed of the decision on his way home.
By then a brilliant night of boxing had been turned to farce with Brodie once again denied the public acclaim which such a performance merited.
Three years ago the Manchester man was left heartbroken by a controversial points defeat to Willie Jorrin for the WBC's super-bantamweight belt.
And his promoter Barry Hearn denied the controversy had wrecked the night, insisting: "I'd rather be going home with a majority draw than a majority defeat. If anyone in this sport deserves a break it's Michael Brodie."
The great irony of Saturday night's events was that - although Chi was narrowly ahead on most of the ringside scorecards - nobody would have argued if Brodie's heroic performance had earned him an immediate draw.
Brodie had clambered up from a second-round knockdown and blazed away with the kamikaze Korean as each fighter barely paused for breath.
Brodie was already bleeding badly from a cut on the top of his head sustained in the ultimately conclusive opening seconds.
Both men reeled away hurt from a clearly accidental clash with Chi clutching the bridge of his nose.
With blood pouring from his wound Brodie's hopes of keeping his opponent at arm's length went out of the window and he was drawn into a tainted classic.
Chi had come to the fight with a reputation as a wild banger and he did not disappoint.
Two wild right hands in the second had Brodie on the deck and Chi flailed away in a bid to finish the contest.
Brodie frequently rode storms of attacks by his opponent and incredibly came back stronger.
He had a superb middle section of the fight and clearly hurt the Korean with a number of body shots - no mean feat against a man who had gone the distance with Erik Morales two years ago.
But he found it impossible to put pressure on Chi's weakness as he was frequently backed up by the Korean's crashing hooks.
Brodie finished the fight with both his eyes badly closing and blood still streaming from his head injury.
Both men were given a rapturous standing ovation by the 3,000 crowd and the headline writers prepared to pay tribute to Brodie's sensational bravery.
But by then the blokes in suits were in the ring loading the gun to shoot their sport in the foot yet again.
A man in a suit ruined one of the best world-title fights seen in a British ring for a decade at the MEN Arena in Manchester on Saturday night.
Michael Brodie and Injin Chi had fought themselves to a bloody standstill after 12 rounds of their clash for the vacant WBC featherweight title.
But then WBC president Jose Sulaiman waddled onto centre stage and stole the headlines away from two terrific fighters.
After lengthy conferring South Korean Chi was initially declared the winner of the title by a narrow 114-112, 113-112, 113-113 majority verdict.
But over half an hour later following frantic backstage analysis of the scorecards, Sulaiman claimed he had made a mistake and adjusted the second scorecard to 113-113, declaring the outcome a majority draw.
Sulaiman claimed he had made the ludicrous mistake of accidentally deducting two points from Brodie on the second card instead of one for an accidental first round headbutt.
Under a bizarre WBC rule, the perpetrator of a butt must have a point deducted even if it is deemed accidental. Referee Daniel Van Der Wiele added to the confusion by failing to signify the deduction clearly.
In a chaotic post-fight press conference in Chi's dressing room - with the Korean sitting devastated only yards behind him - Sulaiman said: "I don't blame anybody except myself - it is my mistake.
"I deducted in the first round two points from Brodie when I should have deducted only one because of the foul which is a one-point deduction by the WBC.
"Due to this the scoring of 113-112 in favour of Chi is adjusted and it means a majority draw.
"It was a very, very, very tough fight. As far as I am concerned it was one of the fights of the year.
"The title remains vacant and most probably we are going to order another fight between the two fighters."
Brodie left the arena without commenting but was informed of the decision on his way home.
By then a brilliant night of boxing had been turned to farce with Brodie once again denied the public acclaim which such a performance merited.
Three years ago the Manchester man was left heartbroken by a controversial points defeat to Willie Jorrin for the WBC's super-bantamweight belt.
And his promoter Barry Hearn denied the controversy had wrecked the night, insisting: "I'd rather be going home with a majority draw than a majority defeat. If anyone in this sport deserves a break it's Michael Brodie."
The great irony of Saturday night's events was that - although Chi was narrowly ahead on most of the ringside scorecards - nobody would have argued if Brodie's heroic performance had earned him an immediate draw.
Brodie had clambered up from a second-round knockdown and blazed away with the kamikaze Korean as each fighter barely paused for breath.
Brodie was already bleeding badly from a cut on the top of his head sustained in the ultimately conclusive opening seconds.
Both men reeled away hurt from a clearly accidental clash with Chi clutching the bridge of his nose.
With blood pouring from his wound Brodie's hopes of keeping his opponent at arm's length went out of the window and he was drawn into a tainted classic.
Chi had come to the fight with a reputation as a wild banger and he did not disappoint.
Two wild right hands in the second had Brodie on the deck and Chi flailed away in a bid to finish the contest.
Brodie frequently rode storms of attacks by his opponent and incredibly came back stronger.
He had a superb middle section of the fight and clearly hurt the Korean with a number of body shots - no mean feat against a man who had gone the distance with Erik Morales two years ago.
But he found it impossible to put pressure on Chi's weakness as he was frequently backed up by the Korean's crashing hooks.
Brodie finished the fight with both his eyes badly closing and blood still streaming from his head injury.
Both men were given a rapturous standing ovation by the 3,000 crowd and the headline writers prepared to pay tribute to Brodie's sensational bravery.
But by then the blokes in suits were in the ring loading the gun to shoot their sport in the foot yet again.