Ian John-Lewis, one of the judges who scored the Josh Taylor-Jack Catterall fight in Taylor’s favor on Feb. 26, has been downgraded by the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC).
John-Lewis scored the bout for Taylor with a score of 114-111 despite challenger Catterall flooring the 31-year-old in the eighth round and out-boxing him for most of the fight. Judge Victor Loughlin also scored the fight for Taylor, 113-112. The final judge, Howard Foster, had it 113-112 for Catterall.
With the split-decision victory, Taylor retained his WBC, IBF, WBA and WBO junior welterweight.
“Following an internal review of the scoring of the Josh Taylor vs. Jack Catterall contest by all three appointed judges, the Stewards of the Board decided to call Mr. Ian John-Lewis to appear before them to explain his returned card,” the BBBofC said in a statement released on Thursday.
“Having considered Mr. Ian John-Lewis’ explanation, the Stewards of the Board decided to downgrade Mr. John-Lewis from an A Star Class to an A Class Official.
“Whilst the Board were satisfied that Mr. John-Lewis’ scorecard did not affect the overall result of the contest, the Stewards of the Board did have issue with his margin.”
The statement also noted that the BBBofC “have contacted the WBO, WBC, IBF and WBA supporting Jack Catterall to be made mandatory challenger for each or all Championship Sanctioning Bodies.”
According to the BBBofC 2021 rules and regulations, a Class A official could work “in all contests including contests for Area Championships, Championships or eliminating contests for Championships of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Commonwealth, but excluding Europe, and the World.” Class A Star officials “can officiate in all or any contests.”
Catterall responded to the announcement on Twitter and said: “Not good enough.”
The fight was Taylor’s third world title defense and his first on home soil since he was crowned champion at the same venue in May 2019.
Source: www.espn.com