by David P. Greisman

Kathy Duva and her crew at promoter Main Events weren’t surprised that the decision in Saturday’s heavyweight fight between Vyacheslav Glazkov and Steve Cunningham turned out controversial, with Glazkov winning the decision.

During the fight, she said, the Canadian broadcasters had Glazkov winning while HBO had Cunningham ahead. Observers on Twitter seemed split, with close scorecards with both men ahead, she said.

“Whenever you get a boxer in there, a really skilled boxer fighting a guy who’s throwing big punches, you’ll get a controversial decision because some people want to see the guy who’s throwing big punches and some people appreciate what the boxer is doing,” Duva said. “No matter how that fight had been called, somebody would’ve been unhappy.”

This is the third time in recent memory that Glazkov has been involved in a decision that some see as controversial. He escaped with a draw against Malik Scott in 2013 when many saw Scott as deserving. He won a majority decision over Derric Rossy last year when some believed Rossy shouldn’t had his hands raised. And then came the Cunningham bout, which had wider scorecards than some felt there should’ve been.

Despite that, Glazkov will ultimately be in position to challenge for a heavyweight title.

“He earned the fight,” Duva said.

But even if Glazkov hasn’t made a strong case for himself to contend, there’s still time for him to improve, thanks to the period between when the winner of April’s fight between champion Wladimir Klitschko and challenger Bryant Jennings would have to make his next mandatory defense.

“He has the luxury of about a year before he’s actually going to have that fight,” Duva said.

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