Violence mars boxing meet as Pino flops
Violence mars boxing meet as Pino flops
JAKARTA (JP): Violence marred the President's Cup boxing
championships here yesterday as an angry mob tried to assault a
referee after home favorite Pino Bahari suffered an upset loss to
Algerian Bahari Mohammed.
The incident erupted when Taiwanese referee Chen gave
middleweight title-holder Pino an eight standing count while the
final bell rang. The Indonesian wobbled in the dying second after
receiving a big blow from Mohammed.
The two boxers, who traded punches in a tense fight throughout
the five rounds of their semifinal, were tied 14-14. Pino,
committed a fault by turning his body, apparently in an attempt
to slow the pace. The referee let the contest go on, giving
Mohammed an open chance to land the deciding punch.
Mohammed had been leading Pino by a mere point and looked
certain to win a final place.
Pino's coach and father, Daniel, lodged a protest as hundreds
in the crowd which filled the Senayan tennis indoor stadium
jeered the referee. A number of fanatical fans, emotionally
clenching their fists, tried to rush the ring. But security
personnel moved quickly to maintain order.
No vandalism occurred during the incident, after the
organizing committee made an announcement, asking the crowd to
remain calm.
Referee Chen was embroiled in a heated argument with the three
judges for five minutes before he decided to extend the bout for
a few further seconds. But Pino was already helpless.
"The referee was following the right procedure. A
saved-by-the-bell ruling is valid only in a final match," an
Indonesian referee, Pulo Pardede, said.
Executive Chairman of the Indonesian Amateur Boxing
Association, Imron ZS, also defended Chen's decision to give the
1990 Asian Games gold medalist a standing count.
"Nothing wrong with the referee. Pino should have accepted the
loss with an open heart," Imron said. "Let's try to become a nice
host, especially because we are bidding to stage an Olympic
qualifying round next year," he added.
Neither did Imron mean to criticize the referee for extending
the bout, he said. "It was accidental, because he was afraid of
the angry crowd," Imron said, adding that the organizing
committee would pick self-confident referees during the finals on
Thursday.
The Indonesian team is assured of the light-flyweight gold
medal as Hermensen Ballo meets compatriot La Paene Masara.
Flyweight Rachman Kili-kili, gold medalist last year, stole
the limelight by edging out Asian Games winner Elias Recaido of
the Philippines. Rachman is striving to retain his title against
Joo Ji-yoon of South Korea.
Pino's brother, Nemo, lived up to his fans' expectations when
he won a unanimous decision over Indian V. Devanrojan in a
featherweight semifinal. Nemo will fight Filipino Vincente Galido
in tomorrow's final. (amd)