Although it was the WBO’s idea to review the controversial scoring in the September 27 bout between challenger Paul Smith and WBO super middleweight champ Arthur Abraham, that appeared to have no impact on the organization’s ultimate ruling.
Via his official Twitter account, WBO president Paco Valcarcel issued the following statement on Friday: “Rematch petition is DENIED. What caused controversy was margin of scores, not result.”
Valcarcel did, however, announce that Smith, because of his “inspired performance” would retain his Top 5 ranking in the division.
The title challenge between Smith and Abraham, which was scored a 114-114 draw by The Boxing Tribune, carried two peculiar scores of 117-111 and an outrageous 119-109 tally by Spanish judge Fernando Laguna.
“[I’m] Gutted that the WBO aren’t making a straight rematch,” Smith said via social media. “I do believe I’ll get the rematch voluntarily, though. I’ve proved I belong up here.”
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