Paulie Malignaggi is strongly convinced that Ismael Barroso was unfairly denied the opportunity to claim the WBA light welterweight title due to referee Tony Weeks prematurely ending the fight in the ninth round against Rolando 'Rolly' Romero last Saturday night at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
Like countless others, Malignaggi fails to comprehend the rationale behind Weeks' decision to halt the bout in the ninth round, as Barroso (24-4-2, 22 KOs) didn't show signs of being hurt and was actively fighting back against Rolly (15-1, 13 KOs).
According to him, Tony Weeks' decision to stop the fight was ridiculous and criminal especially when you consider the fact that Barroso was still strong in the game and fighting back when Romero seemed to have gained some traction in the fight.
"Nobody can convince me that these bad random scorecards or these bad random referee calls. First of all, this is the worst referee call that I’ve ever seen. Possibly worse than [Meldrick] Taylor & [Julio Cesar] Chavez. Barroso is not even hurt. He’s fighting back. He’s just fatigued, he’s not hurt"
"I don’t know if it was a panic for Tony where he had to get Rolly the win. It may have been a panic and you got to stop the fight. That was the most ridiculous stoppage that I’ve ever seen in my life. That stoppage was criminal, and when you put it into play for what Barroso needs in his life and how he probably needed this win. When you put it into play that he’s probably being screwed by whichever team has him and whatever money he did get for this fight, how much he’s being screwed out of a high percentage of it," Malignaggi said on his Paulie TV channel.
Malignaggi added that the WBA and Showtime must do the needful to sanction a rematch between the two fighters immediately to correct the wrong that was done to Barroso.
"How do you screw a guy like that, a guy in that position, who’s been what Barroso has been through? What is boxing going to do? Somebody should demand a rematch. Showtime should make the rematch. Should demand the rematch. Number two, is the WBA going to force it? Because that’s another thing that can be enforced. It can be enforced by the route of the WBA with the rematch. Is the right thing going to be done in boxing? This is the problem."
Cornelius Kwame Sakyi is a writer and boxing analyst for AceTVBoxing.com. He can be reached on Twitter @CorneliusSakyi or via email: sakyicornelius1@gmail.com.
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