By Terence Dooley

The BBBoC will not review Dereck Chisora’s stoppage win over America’s Malik Scott despite promoter Dan Goossen’s official protest.  The Board, via a letter from General Secretary Robert Smith, have backed referee Phil Edwards and have now closed the book on the result.  Chisora caught his undefeated opponent with a looping right hand in the closing moments of the sixth round of their July 20th battle at London’s Wembley Arena.  The 32-year-old visitor put himself at risk of a count out because he did not start to rise until the count hit nine and was ‘counted out in the act of rising’ as per BBBoC guidelines.  Smith also dealt with the claim that the referee did not hit the “10 and out” part of the count.

"I understand the points you have raised but in answering feel I must first clarify them," wrote Smith in response to a protest from Goossen. 

"‘Firstly, when describing the process of Mr. Scott rising, you quite correctly make reference to Mr. Scott ‘having nothing on the canvas but his feet’ at the count of nine.  However, under British Boxing Board of Control Rules (3.32) a boxer is deemed to be ‘down’ by one of four criteria, one of which is ‘when the boxer is in the act of rising.’  Therefore, the point at which the boxer has nothing on the canvas but his feet is not the point at which the boxer is no longer ‘down’.  Most importantly, after a boxer is ‘down’ boxing can only continue when the boxer ‘is in a position and a condition to defend himself."

"Secondly, you state that referee Phil Edwards ‘never reached or uttered the count of 10’.  Again, you are quite right.  In the United Kingdom (like many countries) the count of the referee (having picked it up from the timekeeper) is ’7, 8, 9, out.’  Ten is never called by any referee in any contest in this country.  Both of your observations on the conclusion of the contest were correct but ultimately (whilst the processes or assumptions may vary between countries) Mr. Scott received a full count after which Mr. Edwards did not feel that he was in a position to continue.  Furthermore, I can assure you beyond any doubt that Mr. Edwards, a very experienced referee at the highest level of our sport (and ultimately the person best placed to assess Mr. Scott’s state), made his decision solely based on the safety and well-being of Mr. Scott."

Smith also praised the professionalism of Scott’s team.

He wrote: "Mr Scott conducted himself in an extremely professional manner during his stay in the UK both before and after the contest and should he wish to return to the UK he would be very welcome."

Sadly, the issues surrounding the count and ‘act of rising’ confusion could have been cleared up by Scott’s team before the fight, as all the rules are on the Board’s site and they should have discussed any potential issues prior to the opening bell.  This, coupled with Scott’s decision to begin to rise at nine, points to either a lack of professionalism, a second who was one second behind the official count and therefore conveyed the wrong information to Scott, or the shock value felt by the now 35-1-1 (12) contender, who was boxing well until he got caught with the right hand that ended the contest.

Even more sadly, the post-fight cries of “Foul”, “Robbery” and “Incompetence”, from some pundits, who really should know better, suggested that the BBBoC’s rules and regulations were not read by the very people who were quick to pass judgement of an experienced referee and cast doubts on his impartiality, which is inexcusable in the age of Internet access to key information and documents.  With the saga now behind all the parties, the 29-year-old Chisora, 17-4 (11), can enjoy the win, move on and try to use it as a platform for a world title challenge.

Read BoxingScene’s original article on the so-called controversial count: https://www.boxingscene.com/no-real-controversy-dereck-chisoras-knockout-win--67928