Boxing judge in ‘robbery’ revealed to have history of racism

Gloria Martinez Rizzo’s scorecard at Maestre vs. Fox has drawn accusations of impartiality and racism.

On Saturday night Gabriel Maestre of Venezuela won a unanimous decision over American Mykal Fox to win the vacant WBA interim welterweight title on PBC on FOX. Maestre took the victory with scores of 115-112, 117-110 and 114-113.

Though most onlookers agree the fight was close, plenty in the boxing media scored the bout for Fox. Bad Left Hook scored the fight 118-109 for Fox. Regarding the official judges’ decision BLH writer Scott Christ wrote, “This is an atrocious decision, truly awful. Fox (22-3, 5 KO) was flat-out robbed in this fight. He knew it, his team knew it, everyone in the building knew it.”

Fight Hub TV founder, and unofficial scorer for PBC on FOX, Marcos Villegas echoed those sentiments.

“That is a prime example of a robbery,” wrote Villegas on Twitter. He scored the fight 119-108 in favour of Fox. Villegas also tweeted that he was “dumbfounded” by the official scores and called for an investigation of the judges. “There needs to be accountability for stuff like this.”

The scorecard of Martinez Rizzo has come under extra scrutiny. Boxing analyst Corey Erdman of ESPN and BoxingScene revealed that Martinez Rizzo has a history of anti-Black racism, as evidenced by a series of tweets Erdman shared on Twitter.

Fox, who is Black, responded to Erdman, saying “Wow. I was never gonna win on her card.”

Boxing reporter Dan Canobbio added that Hernandez Rizzo is married to WBA executive Ricardo Rizzo. “So if you’re waiting for an investigation into her horrendous 117-110 scorecard, don’t,” he wrote.

Villegas added that a WBA official was also in the corner of Maestre.

Yesterday WBA President Gilberto J. Mendoza announced that there will be an investigation into the scorecards for Maestre vs. Fox. However, some remain unconvinced that a fair review will be conducted.