Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder: Brit argues Mexican judge should ‘never work in boxing again’

Alejandro Rochin controversially scored the contest 115-111 in favour of Wilder, and Fury thinks he should now be banned

Tyson Fury has argued that the Mexican judge Alejandro Rochin should be “banned from boxing forever” after controversially scoring Saturday night’s thrilling heavyweight world title fight 115-111 in favour of defending champion Deontay Wilder.

Fury was twice sent crashing to the canvas by Wilder late into the fight, but the Brit dominated the first half of the contest with most ringside analysts awarding him at least five of the first six rounds.

However Rochin had Wilder four up through the first four rounds, only awarding Fury five rounds in total. Canada’s Robert Tapper had Fury 114-112 up, while England’s Phil Edwards saw it dead level, meaning it finished as a split decision draw, with Wilder retaining his World Boxing Council title.

“It’s stuff like this that gives boxing a bad name,” Fury said at a hotel in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday morning.

“All the media today have been reporting about how it was a controversial fight. Everyone in boxing has said it’s a controversial thing and time and time again we see it. Take nothing away from Wilder who is a great champion but I thought I won the fight, comfortably. But we had a draw and we will try to get that rematch.

“Put it this way. If I didn't get knocked down twice in that fight, on one of the referee’s scorecards I would still have lost. So he needs banning from boxing forever because he can’t judge, clearly.

“But I will not let the decision take away what a good performance this was. I was happy to be part of a fantastic fight and I couldn't have done any more, neither could Wilder. You can't help but get caught and you can’t go swimming without getting wet.”

Fury, who remains the lineal heavyweight champion, added that the “whole world” now knows who is the true WBC champion, regardless of who holds the iconic green belt.

“The world knows who the real WBC champion is. Wilder has received a gift decision in his own country, good luck to him, and he must be thanking his lucky stars this morning. That green and gold belt belongs to me, Tyson Fury, aka The Gypsy King.”

Sat alongside Fury was his promoter, Frank Warren, who confirmed that both himself and the British Boxing Board of Control would be writing to the WBC on Monday morning, seeking an explanation over the scorecards as well as an immediate rematch.

Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder look set for an immediate rematch (Getty)

“I was very disappointed with the scoring of the Mexican judge,” Warren said. “Showtime had Fury 5-1 up after six rounds so quite what fight he was watching, I don’t know. We will be formally writing to the WBC to ask for a rematch. And I’m sure Mauricio Sulaimán, being the proud Mexican that he is, will want the rematch because it was his judge that got it wrong.

“He is some ballsy guy. And I genuinely feel sorry for him because it would have been the greatest comeback in boxing certainly in my time in the sport. In some ways I think he has been robbed. The only reason there won’t be a rematch is because Wilder doesn’t want it. Tyson wants it. And the fans want it.”

And Warren, who has repeatedly said how he would like to bring the rematch to the United Kingdom, admitted that there was already interest from American venues in staging the contest. “Vegas will now definitely want to get involved, because that was the best heavyweight fight there has been since Lennox Lewis vs Vitali Klitschko, which was ironically at the same venue fifteen years ago.”

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