Judge Ian John-Lewis Downgraded By British Boxing Board Of Control After Controversial Josh Taylor-Jack Catterall Scorecard

Judge Ian John-Lewis has been downgraded after his controversial 114-111 scorecards in favor of Josh Taylor.

The other two judges both had it 113-112 with one for Taylor and one for Catterall. However, the majority of fans and even the commentators thought it was a clear-cut win for Catterall and now the British Boxing Board of Control downgraded the judge. The BBBoC subsequently launched an investigation and has now released its findings.

“Following an internal review of the scoring of the Josh Taylor v Jack Catterall contest by all three appointed judges, the Stewards of the Board decided to call Mr. Ian John-Lewis to appear before them to explain his returned card,” the statement read. “Having considered Mr. Ian John-Lewis’ explanation, the Stewards of the Board decided to downgrade Mr. John-Lewis from an A Star Class to an A Class Official. Whilst the Board were satisfied that Mr. John-Lewis’ scorecard did not affect the overall result of the contest, the Stewards of the Board did have issue with his margin.

“As the regulatory body for the Sport in Great Britain the British Boxing Board of Control continue to improve and maintain the high quality and consistency in scoring by our licensed officials,” the statement continued. “As such, the Stewards of the Board have further decided that in addition to each A Star Class Official being evaluated after each bout, as per current procedure, they will now also be subject to a separate individual annual review. Finally, the British Boxing Board of Control have contacted the WBO, WBC, IBF and WBA supporting Jack Catterall to be made mandatory challenger for each or all Championship Sanctioning Bodies.”

With this being such a controversial decision, it seems likely Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall will rematch in the near future.

What do you make of the judge being downgraded by the BBBoc?