Local man Bastie Samir and Nigerian Idowu Rasheed contested the vacant Universal Boxing Organization™ (UBO) Africa Light Heavyweight title on Saturday night, April 13, in Accra, Ghana.
Rasheed seemingly won the fight by second round knockout, flooring Samir twice with left hooks, the second ending the fight.
It was soon announced that the Ghana Boxing Authority officials at ringside had declared the fight a technical draw, due to an illegal blow from Rasheed.
After watching several videos of the fight, the UBO is not able to see any illegal blows from Mr. Rasheed.
No championship-sanctioning organization, including the UBO, has power to overturn an official result, as this is something only the local boxing commission, in this case the Ghana Boxing Authority, can do.
But due to the fact that the title remained vacant, the UBO is in a position, and has power, to extraordinarily decide on its ownership:
Since we cant see that Mr. Rasheed did anything wrong, that he was in fact a victim of a blatant injustice and put on an amazing performance, we feel it is only right that Mr. Rasheed is recognized as the UBO Africa Light Heavyweight champion.
We have since been informed in writing by the Ghana Boxing Authority that they indeed intend to overturn the announced result and declare Rasheed the official winner by second round knockout.
It is human to make mistakes, and we are glad that the Ghana Boxing Authority has reportedly made the right decision in regards to the official result, and will report this accordingly to all record-keepers and other relevant parties.
OFFICIAL UBO RULING: Idowu Rasheed is recognized as the Universal Boxing Organization™ (UBO) Africa Light Heavyweight champion!
Credit: UBO
