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The judges who gave Teresa Perozzi a narrow points victory over Roselin Morales on Saturday night have stood by their decision.

Cleveland Critchlow, David Hope and Vic Richmond all maintained that they gave the right verdict after a close fight at Clearwater Beach.

The three judges sat independently and handed their scores in after each round, with no conferring allowed.

Richmond said: "It was a very close fight. It's not very often you get so many even rounds but there were times when you just couldn't separate them.

"There was no doubt in any of our minds who won. Morales is the challenger, she has to take the title from Perozzi and she just didn't do that. She felt she had won, but everyone feels they have won when it is a close decision."

He said the scoring system for pro bouts was very different to amateur boxing where the number of punches that connect with the knuckle part of the glove is the premier consideration.

In a pro bout there is much more emphasis on the power of the punches, effective aggression and 'ring generalship' - essentially the style of the boxer.

"Perozzi was the stronger puncher and was consistently scoring with very solid blows, particularly those left hooks."

He said Morales landed a few punches of her own but had to be warned for 'slapping' - punches with the flat front of the gloved hand which do not count.

He said Perozzi was also more aggressive, going forward more, with her opponent back peddling."

"I'm not scared to say that Morales was probably a more skillful boxer but she didn't turn that skill into a victory for her on the night. To me, Roselin was shaken a couple of times by the power of Teresa."

He added that Morales had put up a good fight but had just come up short on the night.

"It was an excellent fight, a close fight and a difficult one to judge, but the fact that all three judges independently scored it along the same lines, tells you that Teresa won it."

He said the accusation of 'home town decision' was a 'standard retort' generally made by boxers who lost fights away from home on points.

"When Teresa fought Monica Nunez it was an equally close fight and we gave it to Nunez."[[In-content Ad]]

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