Thurrock man's corner amazed at fight decision at Grays Civic Centre bout (From Thurrock Gazette)

Controversial decision goes against Wayne Hibbert

10:01am Friday 15th March 2013 in Sport

BOXING: Thurrock’s ‘John’ Wayne Hibbert lost his English title eliminator bout against Derby's Dave Ryan in a controversial points decision.

There was fury at Grays Civic Centre when the winner was announced and Hibbert’s trainer, Mark Bates, reacted angrily to the decision which had the crowd jeering.

Bates said: “I could not see how Wayne lost and even Ryan's corner were surprised. “I didn't want to make any comment until I had watched the video to be able to assess the fight properly. #

"Now I’ve watched the fight numerous times and cannot see how Ryan won more than two rounds.

“We are obviously disappointed, but sometimes boxing can be like that where the ref sees the fight different to eveyone else. We don’t want to dwell on the decision as we want to move forward from here and still try and get Wayne a shot at the English title."

Hibbert had started the bout brightly dominating the first four rounds - rocking his opponent more than once.

Ryan then adjusted his style making it difficult for Hibbert to land punches cleanly.

Hibbert continued to press forward looking for an opening and was the more active fighter in spite of sustaining two cuts due to head clashes. As the last three rounds approached, Hibbert boxed well on the backfoot demonstrated good ring craft.

The last round looked as if Ryan had been told to press and look for the knockout.

The sell out crowd were convinced their man had won, but the cheers turned to jeers when the referee, Mark Green, awarded the victory to Ryan by a score of 97-95.

But despite the local man’s disappointment he congratulated the delighted Ryan camp and also placated the angry crowd who were jeering the official.