Saturday’s championship fight at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, Lancashire, United Kingdom, between WBA World lightweight champion Darleys Perez (32-1-1, 20 KOs) and Anthony Crolla (29-4-3, 11 KOs) ended in a controversial draw.

The final scores were 116-111 for Crolla, 114-113 for Perez, and 113-113.

Many people were unhappy with the result, but none were as unhappy as the challenger.

“I’m bitterly disappointed I’ve not got the world title take to home with me,” Crolla told Sky Sports. “I thought the deductions swayed it for me. I had to dig deep and do the crowd proud. I will only come back stronger. When this opportunity came I was never going to give it up. But I promise everyone that I will win the world title.”

WBA Vice President Gilberto Jesus Mendoza has ordered an official scoring review of the fight.

The Pod Index will conduct the review on behalf of the WBA and will utilize ten judges—five judges will score it using the full point system and five will have the option to use half points.

The results of the review will be published as soon as they are available.

“The WBA focuses on promoting fairness and neutrality in world title bouts,” said Mendoza. “We pledge unconditionally to deliver the most realistic decision from our international officials.

“In this instance, an evaluation of the scorecards is necessary. It is a must for all controversial championship fights.

“We expect to have an announcement very soon on Perez-Crolla.”

The complete fight between Darleys Perez and Anthony Crolla can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqdr_4IvrNw

This article was penned by the author who is not related to the WBA and the statements, expressions or opinions referenced herein are that of the author alone and not the WBA.