Which Fight Was Boxing’s Biggest ‘Robbery’ Of The Year?
In September, when the fight between Campbell Hatton and Sonni Martinez came to an end, fans were convinced that Martinez’s brilliance throughout the five rounds had him the W, but judges thought otherwise.
Boxing fans were enraged on social media after seeing the referee declare Hatton the winner.
The 20-year-old had won all three of his fights since turning pro in March. On the other hand, Martinez, who is a veteran in the sport, is a 2-4 journeyman.
Martinez, 29, had the entire fight under control.
He kept hitting Hatton with uppercuts throughout the bout and certainly seemed to be landing more often and with more accuracy.
Instead of going crazy and looking for a knockout, he played it slowly. The experienced star used his movement well to avoid Hatton’s swarming shots too.
Hatton was nowhere as technical as his opponent.
With his wild swings, he hardly got any hold of Martinez. He was visibly outclassed by experience on the night.
At the end of the fifth round, Sky’s ringside scorer Andy Clarke gave the fight 4-1 to Martinez. However, fight referee McDonnell scored it 58-57 in favor of the young Brit.
Fans took it to social media to wonder why was Hatton declared the winner despite a horror show at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The Hatton decision was just rubbish. He lost. Period. They probably just deprived that poor kid who lost the greatest moment of his life in #boxing. Just sad. I’m so jaded at this point and tired of it all. #JoshuaUsyk
— Lou DiBella (@loudibella) September 25, 2021
There is absolutely no way Campbell Hatton won that fight. None whatsoever.#JoshuaUsyk
— Philip O’Connor (@philipoconnor) September 25, 2021
That is absolutely disgusting! This is what’s fucked with professional boxing! Hatton should of been beat. This sports a joke sometimes the ref should be questioned, how can these so called officials get away with it.
— Charlie Edwards 🦅 (@CEdwardsBoxing) September 25, 2021
They claimed that the sport has become corrupted, and Martinez was robbed off a definite victory.
Speaking in his post-fight interview, Hatton admitted that he was below par against his opponent: “I’m not happy with my performance at all to be honest. I’m a lot better than that. The opponent was a lot better than anyone I’ve faced before,” he said.
“There’s positives and definitely negatives. He did a lot of flashy stuff, a lot of showboating, it’s not something any of my opponents have done before. I’m already a lot better than I’ve shown there, I’m not happy with that performance at all. Onto the next.”
Boxing ace Chris Eubank Jr had a piece of advice for the 20-year-old as well.
“Don’t worry about the big stage, don’t worry about impressing the fans, don’t worry about the name,” he said while performing punditry duties.
“Go away, go to Mexico, go to the small shows, build your record, build your experience, and then come back and do all this.”
Viewers also voiced for Martinez, who they said, could have used this victory to raise his stocks again and potentially be offered another fight soon after.