Team Sauerland and Golden Gloves demand reversal of Masternak-Muller decision

On Saturday night, a highly contentious judging decision cost Mateusz Masternak (35-3, 25 KOs) his thirty-sixth professional victory against Johnny Muller (19-4-2, 13 KOs) at the Emperors Palace in Gauteng, South Africa. The result has led to an international outcry and both Masternak’s promoter Team Sauerland and Muller’s promoter Golden Gloves contacting Boxing South Africa to demand the decision is overturned.

Masternak dominated an entertaining ten round contest, flooring the South African in rounds five and seven, and looking well ahead as the final bell rang, Unfortunately, this was not reflected in the result, with the judges scoring the fight 95-93, 95-93 and 93-95 to gift Muller a split decision victory.

Said promoter Kalle Sauerland: ‘’What we saw on Saturday night was one of the worst decisions ever made in a non-title bout in the sport of boxing. As such, both Team Sauerland and Golden Gloves have contacted Boxing South Africa’s president Archie Nyingwa to demand that the decision is reversed.

‘’How two of the judges could honestly believe that the fight should be scored 95-93 in Muller’s favour is beyond me. Not even the most impartial observer could fathom such scoring. We have had the fight analysed and the results are unbelievable. For every one scoring punch landed by Muller, Mateusz connected with four. Not to mention, the two knockdowns in rounds five and seven.

‘’We do not wish to take anything away from Johnny Muller, who more than played his part in an entertaining ten rounds of boxing, although I’m sure even he would admit, as has his promoter Rodney Berman, that the decision was extremely fortuitous.

‘’Boxing as a whole needs to eradicate these types of ‘home town decisions’. After his win over Jean Marc Mormeck in Paris, Mateusz was well on his way to another word title shot. We simply cannot allow two incompetent judges to rob one man of his destiny. We’re thankful that Rodney has stood with us and lodged his own complaint. We trust that Boxing South Africa will make the right choice and immediately reverse the decision.

Masternak has joined his promoter pleas, imploring Boxing South Africa to review the fight. ‘’I would like to ask Boxing South Africa to watch the fight once again,’’ said the 28 year-old. ‘’They should think about the result and the effect it is having on my career, my livelihood and the future of my family.

‘’In the ring I felt that I was the much better boxer and was in complete control of the fight. The result was a huge shock for me. I feel like they have taken away everything that I’ve worked so hard to achieve. Without fair and impartial judging, all the blood, sweat and tears are for nothing.

‘’The decision is not only damaging for me but also for the reputation of boxing in South Africa. These judges are professionals and should adjudicate the bouts objectively. I won this fight and the federation should use this opportunity to reverse the unfair decision and remove this black mark from my record. All I’m asking for is justice.’’

Mateusz Masternak Photo Credit: Sebastian Heger