January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
Perozzi loses world title
Arbitrator’s no decision costs her championship
Despite delivering a 'wicked beating' to Scroller Carrington, Perozzi's championship winning performance in Trinidad is set to be removed from the record books.
The Association of Boxing Commissions said the dispute between promoter Boxu Potts and the sanctioning body, the WIBC, was too complex for it to arbitrate.
It's president Tim Lueckenhoff has directed FightFax, the official record keeper for world boxing, to remove the notation that all five fights in Trinidad last month were title fights.
Don 'Moose' Lewis, chairman of the WIBC, issued a lengthy statement detailing what he believes were a series of irregularities which contravened the organizations by-laws.
The gist of his argument is that he, as the WIBC's representative on the night, was not allowed to be present at the weigh-in and was not allowed to view the scorecards.
He also claims the necessary sanctioning fees were not paid by the promoter, Boxu Potts and his organization ABC Boxing.
Potts denies the allegations and was still insisting yesterday that Perozzi was the champion. But Lueckenhoff said the two sides stories were so different that they would have to settle their dispute before a judge in a civil court.
Both sides of the argument were outlined in detail in last weekend's Bermuda Sun (see www.bermudasun.bm/archives/2005-09-30 - lead story in news and scroll down for extensive coverage in sport).
Lewis, who presented the belt to Perozzi in the ring, insists he only did so to offer a 'semblance of sanctioning' in order to ensure his own safety while in Trinidad.
In his statement, which has been posted on U.S. boxing sites, he goes on to say that, that sanctioning has now been withdrawn.
As well as the fight irregularities, he claims to have received a mystery phone-call at his hotel saying: "This is a friend-do not leave your hotel this evening."
He goes on to detail stories of kidnappings in Trinidad, including at the hotel he was staying at, which he says added to the climate of fear.
His full statement will be posted on the Bermuda Sun's website from 3pm Wednesday.
Mr. Lueckenhoff said that the issue was far more complex than he had originally thought and his organization could not now arbitrate the dispute.
He said: "There is no way for me to get involved in this as the stories are too different, I recommend each party file civil suits.
"I have made my decision to withdraw from this situation because there are too many stories regarding what actually took place and I cannot make a ruling based upon information that I do not know is accurate.
"The sanctioning organization (in this case the WIBC) has the authority to withdraw their title, if their bylaws were violated, "Moose has stated several times that the bylaws of the WIBC had been violated based upon non-payment of fees, failure to be present at the weigh-in and not being able to view the scorecards.
"If Moose wants the belt back, he should send her notification by mail."
Perozzi was still pondering her next step yesterday, with no-one from any of the organizations involved having bothered to contact the fighter to explain the situation.[[In-content Ad]]
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