Hawaii Commission Declines Juliana Velasquez’s Loss Appeal At Bellator 278

The Hawaii State Boxing Commission declined the appeal of Juliana Velasquez after her defeat against Liz Carmouche in the Bellator 278 main event. MMAFighting.com was the first outlet to break this news.

Velasquez lost her flyweight belt after succumbing to a barrage of elbows while in the crucifix position at the 4:47 mark of Round 4. Prior to this, Velasquez appeared to be closing in on victory.

Even though the Brazilian and her team believed that none of those blows were big enough to warrant a stoppage decision, the Hawaii commission stated that the result won’t be reviewed, and the decision made by the referee will also not change.

It is important to note that referees usually cause an interference when they feel that a boxer is either getting completely dominated or they see a marked superiority.

Mike Beltran, the referee of this fight, wrote a letter to the commission suggesting that Velasquez may have lost her senses during the sequence and the referee might be protecting the fighter that he felt was at risk. The commission went in favour of the Beltran decision.

Velasquez was undefeated for 12 consecutive bouts before falling to Carmouche. She won the flyweight belt after defeating Ilima-Lei Macfarlane at Bellator 254.