Robert Coster’s 22 November 2009 write up on the Rodel Mayol-Edgar Sosa clash of heads during the WBC 108-lb championship fight was not a report of facts but a biased opinion. I don’t even call it a head butt as these words already imply intention.
Coster states, “A vicious head-butt at the beginning of the second round spelled the end for the long reigning champion who crumbled to the floor. The head-butt was ruled as intentional and referee Ramirez deducted a point from the Filipino challenger”.
In his 24 November 2009 “Edgar Sosa Update” in the same website, Coster states, “Sosa was the victim an intentional head butt by challenger Rodel Mayol in their fight Saturday”.
By not checking on the WBC championship rules, Coster tarnished Rodel Mayol’s reputation in showing readers how dirty a fighter Rodel is. Coster’s unfair opinion is due to his failure to identify the cause of the point deduction as well as his ignorant conclusion on the referee’s act of deducting the point. Coster erred in stating that the deduction was due to the head butt which he concluded as intentional because the referee deducted a point on Mayol.
The fact is, as a consequence of the clash of heads, Edgar Sosa sustained a cut on his left check. Since the fight was allowed to continue, Rodel Mayol, being the uncut fighter, was deducted a point.
The Mayol-Sosa fight was for the WBC 108-lb title. When a clash of heads results in a cut to one or both fighters, the WBC has rules to be followed. The rules applicable to a situation which is accidental are:
- “A point will be deducted from the uncut fighter; if both fighters are cut, both will get a point deduction”
- “the uncut boxer will be deducted one point if the fight will continue”
- “If the fight cannot continue, there will not be a point deduction”
If the referee ruled that the cut was a result of an intentional foul, the rule mandates the penalty to be either a deduction of 2 points or outright disqualification of the offending boxer. It is not an option for the referee to deduct one point in an intentional foul, such as a head butt, which results to a cut.
There is no deduction for a clash of heads which does not produce a cut. The referee’s action to deduct a point from Mayol was ministerial after he ruled that the clash of heads was accidental which produced a cut on Sosa and that the fight was allowed to continue. If it was Mayol who was cut and Sosa was uncut, Sosa would have been deducted the point even if he was the one who fell to the canvas after the accidental clash of heads.
Robert Coster owes Rodel Mayol, the WBC 108-lb world champion, an apology.
Source: philboxing.com
Custom Search
