Promoter Frank Warren has given his assessment of the controversial, and largely lacklustre, fight that played out between Joshua Buatsi and Zach Parker last Saturday.
The pair squared off in a light-heavyweight encounter at the Co-op Live Arena, Manchester, headlining a Queensberry Promotions card stacked with several more domestic offerings at 175lbs.
But while many were eagerly anticipating the return of Buatsi, 20-1 (13 KOs), who had not fought since his thrilling battle with Callum Smith in February, they were ultimately forced to endure 10 rounds of minimal action.
After dropping a unanimous decision to Smith, the 32-year-old was under a fair amount of pressure to not only take care of business, but also defeat Parker, 26-2 (18 KOs), in convincing fashion.
The likelihood of that seemed to get progressively slimmer as their fight wore on, though, because instead, it was Parker who suddenly appeared poised to claim a comprehensive points victory.
Utilising his crafty movement and unpredictable counter-punching prowess, the Derbyshire man certainly found his groove quicker than Buatsi, who could seemingly never sustain his attacking efforts.
It came as a considerable surprise, then, when it was announced that two of the judges, Marcus McDonnell and Salvador Salva, had reached a 96-94 verdict in favour of Buatsi.
Those two scorecards overalled judge Grzegorz Molenda’s 95-95 reflection, leaving Parker in a state of disbelief as he stormed out of the ring.
Queensberry boss Warren, meanwhile, was one of the many spectators that scored the fight in favour of the 31-year-old.
But equally, the veteran promoter has criticised Parker’s habit of going to ground whenever Buatsi entered the pocket, while referee Michael Alexander, on the other hand, seemed to have few problems with the rule infringement.
In an interview with BoxNation, Warren said:
“I thought Zach won it. I thought he won it by a few rounds.
His tactics were basically to hit and run – and I get that and understand that – but that wasn’t very exciting.
I don’t think Josh [Buatsi] got going properly, and their styles didn’t blend. The times he [Parker] kept falling on his knees – he did it quite a few times in the fight – I don’t think that went down well with the judges.
That was maybe one of the reasons why they gave it the other way. It shouldn’t be, but that’s what happened.”
Parker was also at risk of having a point deducted for excessive clinching, but again, referee Alexander did little to mediate the issue.
