The below letter to the International Boxing Association (IBA) was written by Kennedy Kenyata regarding the blatant robbery suffered by Zambia boxer Patrick Chinyemba at the Commonwealth Games.
The judges involved in our Zambian boxer, Patrick Chinyemba’s (pictured) semi-final bout against India’s Amit, displayed the highest level of unprofessionalism in awarding victory to the Indian boxer yet Chinyemba clearly dominated the fight from all aspects of the game.
I’m therefore surprised why the International Boxing Association (IBA) whose members witnessed this painfully biased officiating are silent on such incompetency despite being flagged by International Olympic Committee (IOC) on corrupt judges at the 2016 Olympic Games.
Such judges are not only demoralizing and destroying the careers of innocent boxers but putting the sport into disrepute as well as soiling IBA’s image.
I’m therefore calling upon IBA to take stern action on the judges involved in Chinyemba’s semi-final bout failure to which l will move to IOC to seek justice on this blatant arrogance by the judges whose biased officiating is destroying the game.
It’s as if they want to turn the sweet science of boxing into MMA.
IBA should ensure the shameless judges involved in Chinyemba’s semi-final fight are kept off such major tournaments because they’re a big embarrassment to the international body
In contrast, the referee was highly professional compared to the judges whom the Zambian delegation is demanding a probe into their conduct.
The fans were equally shocked when the Indian boxer was declared the winner. Even the boxer himself appeared surprised when his hand was raised to signal him as the winner. We thought he would protest but surprisingly he accepted the decision but deep in him he knows he was beaten.
Now l can see why IOC wants to eliminate boxing from the 2028 Olympic Games because of such biased judges who have no shame cheating in broad daylight.
I’m also appealing to the international media to highlight this unprofessionalism in amateur boxing otherwise they’ll be viewed as complicit in this incompetency.
— From Kennedy Kanyanta
Kennedy Mushoke Kanyanta is a former prominent Zambian international boxer and won a gold medal in the flyweight division at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.
