INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines ? Filipino Reynaldo Belandres punished and bloodied Australia?s Davey Browne but lost in his bid to capture the vacant WBC World Youth featherweight championship in Sydney on Friday, his manager reported yesterday.

?In what could perhaps be one of the most outrageous judging in international boxing, 23-year-old Belandres turned the face of the tall Australian into a bloody mess, nearly sending him to the canvas several times, but lost by a mile in the scorecards of an all-Australian panel,? said North Cotabato Vice Governor Manny Piñol, who manages Belandres.

Piñol reported that Belandres, shorter by four inches, brought the fight to Browne starting the opening round by connecting effectively to the body and the head.

He opened a cut over the left eye of the Australian in the second round, and pinned Browne against the ropes several times, Piñol added.

?But in the end, it was not the courage and the skills of the boxer that determined the outcome of the fight but the pen of the three judges who, according to the Australians themselves, shamelessly gave the fight to Browne,? Piñol said.

?It?s disgusting,? Piñol quoted former world champion Jeff Fenech, who did the television commentary, as saying.

Piñol said that Bill Treacy, owner of the sports company that promoted the fight, vowed to help seek a rematch for Belandres. Recah Trinidad