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Douglas New Canadian Cruiserweight Champion

Scoring Controversy In Bunda VS McLellan

By:  Michael Schmidt

Jason Douglas scored what appeared to be a resounding ten round decision from Frank White tonight in Moncton although the judge’s scorecards certainly had the fight closer than it appeared to be, giving Douglas, the new C.P.B.C. Cruiserweight Champion a split decision.

The bigger story of the night, perhaps, was the Julius Bunda vs Stuart McLellan C.P.B.C. Middleweight Championship. Bunda was awarded a razor thin 96-95,96-95,96-95 unanimous decision over ten fast paced action packed rounds and was crowned the new Champion in the ring and presented with his Championship belt. The bigger story of the “fight of the night” was not the in the ring action, but rather the out of the ring action and the fact that some two hours after the fight the New Brunswick Boxing Commission advised both camps that scores has been added incorrectly. After meeting in a closed door session for over one hour the Commission invited both camps to attend in the meeting and at this time advised the Bunda and McLellan representatives that they had made addition errors, had re-totaled the cards some six times and arrived at the fact that the correct scores where, 95-95,95-95, and 98-92 for McLellan thereby making the fight a majority draw. Rather than using a one page scoring sheet (ie three judges, three total sheets, with scores added at the usual right hand side, round after round) individual separate round to round cards were used and handed in ( ie some thirty total individual cards, ). The fighters representatives were then advised that under the circumstances of the Commissions error, the title would be declared vacant and a mandatory rematch ordered.

The Douglas vs White fight followed a familiar pattern throughout the first three rounds with Douglas establishing a strong jab followed by solid overhand rights that were finding there mark. The fight had rough moments all ten rounds and the referee, who did a very good job in keeping things flowing, had to work hard. White was working hard to get in and paid the price with Dougals landing hard right hands and holding on when White would get inside. Douglas continued to time White coming in and this continued through rounds four and five with White landing the occasional power shot. Towards the end of the fifth round Douglas landed perhaps the punch of the night to that point when he landed a sweeping left hook. In round six both fighters started concentrating on more body shots and both were effective. In round seven Douglas was again landing hard overhand right hands. Round eight was delayed midpoint to mop the canvas which was extremely wet. This took approximately ninety seconds and upon resuming the fight Douglas landed a hard left to the body while White was still landing the occasional power punch. There was more of the same in the ninth round. Douglas would have a point deducted for rough house tactics and in the tenth and final round both fighters slipped and fell to the canvas together. White landed a huge overhand right but this did not appear to faze Douglas and the round was again stopped to dry the canvas. In the end result Douglas was awarded a split decision 96-94,99-91, for Douglas and 96-94 for White. A casual poll of some ten fight fans ringside had Douglas winning eight of ten rounds and nine of ten rounds. Douglas is to be congratulated on showing disciplined boxing, using a power jab,and mixing things up with hard overhand rights. Douglas must now be considered as one of, or perhaps, the top Cruiserweight in Canada.

Bunda vs Mclellan was an action packed fast paced fight for ten straight rounds and clearly was the fan fight of the night. Both young fighters are to be commended, neither having gone the ten before. In the first round both fighters were landing crisp shots, and as would be the case the first nine rounds it was hard to pick a winner. In the second Bunda landed a solid left hook and it appeared that Mcllelan had been knocked down. A ringside commissioner held up his hand to the referee to pick up the count but the referee without hesitation ruled a slip. Rounds three through five continued with Bunda working with solid shots from the outside and Mclellan mixing aggression inside and outside finding the mark with sweeping left hooks and the occasional overhand right. Round six appeared to be even until about a minute left when Mclellan landed a series of overhand rights with Bunda firing back to the body. In the seventh Bunda re-established himself stunning Mclellan with a straight right hand to the head which had Mclellan holding on. Round eight and nine where more of the same with Bunda landing power shots and Mclellan landing hooks and right hands. The tenth was a dominant round for Bunda as he had Mclellan out on his feet at one point. Bunda followed up to try and finish Mclellan as the round neared its end but Mclellan proved to be more than game and durable enough as he finished the rounds attempting to fire back. The scoring controversy hopefully will not deter from the performance these two young fighters put on in what simply could be described as “one hell of an on the edge of your seat fight” as one of the ringside spectators stated.

Regardless of the scoring controversy this is one deserving of a rematch and both camps seem ready to do so which will be a real treat for fight fans. Once again the father son Doiron team, as Victory Boxing Promotions, put on a great show in the superb fight venue of Casino New Brunswick. This Venue as it is set out does not have a bad seat in the house for viewing. It is a superb place to showcase boxing and hopefully as word spreads “Casino Carnage” is the first of many more to come. Judging by fan reaction that will be sooner than later.

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