WBA chief demands rematch after N’Dam decision ‘damage’

Hassan N’Dam of France (C) celebrates his victory over Ryota Murata of Japan after the 12th round of the WBA middleweight title bout in Tokyo on May 20, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Toru YAMANAKA

The head of the World Boxing Association (WBA) has demanded a rematch after Frenchman Hassan N’Dam won the middleweight title on a controversial split decision over Japan’s Ryota Murata.

N’Dam took the vacant world title in Tokyo on Saturday despite being knocked down by the 2012 Olympic champion Murata and taking punishment for much of the fight.

“After judging the bout (independently) my scorecard is 117-110 for Murata,” WBA president Gilberto Mendoza said on Twitter on Sunday.

“First of all, let me apologise to Ryota Murata… and all Japanese boxing fans. There are no words to repair the damage. 

“I will demand the championship committee to order a direct rematch.”

Two judges scored in favour of N’Dam, one by 116-111 and the other by 115-112, triggering boos from the Japanese crowd. The other judge gave the fight to Murata 117-110.

“I feel angry and (frustrated) for not being able to serve the sport with the right decisions,” tweeted Mendoza. “I am disappointed with the controversy. My goal is to have clear decisions and prove transparency to all boxing fans.”

Murata appeared to dominate the fight, flooring N’Dam with a right hook in the fourth round and wobbling him on several other occasions.

N’Dam sank to his knees as the scores were announced and afterwards claimed he had deserved to win.

“I thought I won more rounds than him,” said the Cameroon-born Frenchman. “Even after I was knocked down I stuck to my game plan.”

Murata, hoping to become only Japan’s second middleweight world champion, and first in 22 years, refused to make excuses after a first defeat in 13 professional fights, but insisted: “He didn’t hit me with a single punch that hurt me.”

Akihiko Honda, president of Murata’s Teiken Gym, made no attempt to hide his contempt for the contentious decision that saw N’Dam improve his record to 36-2.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous,” he fumed. “Our fight went perfectly to plan. It’s the worst judging decision I’ve ever seen. There’s no way that was a defeat.”