IT was a premature end in the main bout of the South Pacific Boxing Promotions Program which was held at the Tilak High School hall in Lautoka on Saturday.
The much awaited return clash between Sebastian ‘The Sniper’ Singh and Ratu Rakuro Daunivavana for the Fiji super welterweight title last only two rounds while it was the same for the Fiji bantamweight title clash between Shamal Ram Anuj and Rahul Aron Kumar.
Ratu Rakuro retired hurt after the second round following a hand injury while referee Joeli Sauqaqa stopped the clash between Anuj and Kumar in 2 minutes 11 seconds of the second round handing Anuj a technical knockout victory.
Kumar disputed Sauqaqa’s decision to wave the fight off after he was floored with a swinging left punch.
Boxing Commission of Fiji director Usman Ali said Kumar failed to respond to the referee’s instructions after he went down.
“As the supervisor I was watching the bout very precisely especially with the calls from the referee,” Ali said.
“The boxer needs to respond and we have to see that the boxer’s safety comes first. The referee counted to ten and the boxer’s response was not there. If we could have allowed the fight to continue then he would have gone down again. We respect the decision of the referee and it was fair.”
Ali said the program went on well despite the premature end during the title fights.
