Hamzah Sheeraz vs Bradley Skeete under scrutiny
The BBBofC have announced they will be looking into the controversial contest between Sheeraz and Skeete
A circular was released from the BBBofC on Monday, December 6th: "The Stewards of the Board will be considering the contest between Hamzah Sheeraz and Bradley Skeete for the WBO European Super Welterweight Championship at their meeting on Wednesday, 8th December 2021."
In their December 4th fight, Skeete was outboxing his younger opponent, largely dominating the 10-round championship contest behind a sharp jab, until he was forced to take a knee in the eighth round after Sheeraz came on strong.
But while the puncher from Penge was kneeling, Sheeraz unleashed two more punches to the head of Skeete in what appeared to be a delibrate attempt to strike his opponent while he was already down. The WBO European super-welterweight champion actually threw three more punches after he was legally allowed to, the first was a left hook that swung over the head of the floored fighter, but the following two connected cleanly and Skeete was given extra time to recover.
In the following round, Skeete's head still wasn't clear and the slightest connection decked him again, until the contest was stopped 58 seconds into the ninth stanza.
Spectators were shocked and appalled when referee Steve Gray only deducted a single point from the perpetrator for his illegal blows and questions were asked afterwards why he wasn't disqualified from the contest.
In an update, the officiator has now been called in for more investigation. The BBBofC declared on December 9: "The Stewards of the Board, having considered reports in relation to the WBO European Super Welterweight Championship at their meeting on Wednesday, 8th December 2021, have decided to call Referee Steve Gray in relation to the ending of the bout. The date of such meeting to be confirmed shortly."
Trainer Dominic Ingle was left raging at the result. He said, "They've been building Hamzah up as the next big thing, well on last night's performance he wasn't the next big thing; realistically, he had to resort to illegal moves to win the fight.
"He hit Bradley Skeete three times when he was on the floor, and the referee should not have even gave it a second thought, it should have been an instant disqualification.
"He was not defending himself, he was down; you know, he got hit to the back of the head, then two shots to the face and that really should have been the end of it. The referee was saying to him, 'You're gonna have to get up or I'll have to stop the fight', and he shouldn't be saying that."
Further news will be released after Wednesday, December 8.
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