Injustice reigns in boxing as Sarita Devi cheated by shocking decision

By Anurag from Incheon It is not often that an entire stadium greets the winner with boos. Definitely not when the winner is from the host country. But even the Koreans could not help but criticize the “decision by unanimous choice” that ruled local hope Jina Park as the winner in her Light Weight (57-60 kg) semifinal bout against India’s L Sarita Devi. Even if you had no idea about the rules of boxing and how points are scored, it wasn’t difficult to understand that the Indian boxer was well and truly hammering the daylights out of her Korean opponent. It was like a street brawl inside the boxing ring at the Seonhak Gymnasium with both boxers raining blows on each other with complete disregard to defense and strategy. [caption id=“attachment_1737283” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File picture of Sarita Devi (L) in action. PTI[/caption] The opening round was definitely a 50-50 affair but thereafter it was one-way traffic as the Korean started getting tired. She started holding more and took more of a battering from Sarita. At one stage in the third round, Sarita Devi unleashed a vicious series of hooks and jabs forcing the referee to break the bout twice. Her punches were connecting and the Korean was clearly hurt. But the referee refused to give the Korean the count and it seemed odd to see Park put up her arms in a gesture of victory at the end of the fourth round despite being at the receiving end of yet another hammering. And when the referee eventually raised Park’s hand as the winner, Sarita Devi was so shocked that she could not help but laugh at her opponent and then walk in the ring in disgust and greet the audience with a traditionak Indian ‘pranam’ before stepping out of the ring. But it was mayhem outside the ring as Sarita’s husband C Thoiba Singh could not hold his anger and had to be controlled by the security as he abused officials and went around shouting in the mixed zone. Sarita to her credit showed brilliant composure to handle the situation and calm down her husband. “They could have just told me that she will win at any cost. I would not have turned up for the fight,” Sarita Devi said after the match. “I know that the decision cannot be reversed now. But I request all those who run the sport to ensure that such a thing does not happen again. Please don’t play with the career of players who work so hard,” she added. This is not the first time such a controversy has erupted in the boxing ring. A similar fate awaited Mongolian boxer Tugstsogt Nyambayar against Korea’s Sangmyeong Ham in Men’s Bantam weight quarterfinal about an hour later and once again the stadium erupted in boos. Both Mongolia and India have protested against the decision and asked the jury to review the footage of the bout. However, sources say the $500 fee for lodging a protest was a waste as there can be no protest against the judges verdict and both the decisions were by unanimous choice. The last word is not yet out. Hope floats for Sarita but only just.