• Boxing

Unhappy Scott files complaint over Chisora defeat

Counted out ...but Malik Scott is challenging the referee's decision © PA Photos

Enlarge

A fix in for Del Boy? Do me a favour

• If anybody has the film of Malik Scott on his feet, gloves up and nodding his head, before the referee finished the count at Wembley, please send it to me - because I haven't seen it.
  
  What I saw was Malik Scott dropped by a big right hand to the head from Dereck Chisora. And then I saw what the referee saw: that Malik Scott was not in a position to defend himself before the end of the count.
  
  Could Scott have got up earlier? Absolutely. But he got up too late.
  
  Click here to read more from Steve Bunce

The promoter of heavyweight Malik Scott has filed a protest with British boxing regulators over the controversial knockout Scott suffered against Dereck Chisora on Saturday in London.

Promoter Dan Goossen told ESPN.com that he wrote to the British Boxing Board of Control on Tuesday on behalf of Scott, seeking to have the sixth-round knockout overturned to a no-contest.

Scott and Chisora were engaged in a highly competitive main event at Wembley Arena when Chisora dropped Scott with an overhand right hand in the sixth round. Scott went to one knee, appeared unhurt and alert. He looked to his corner and then directly at referee Phil Edwards, picking up his count at six.

Scott rose at nine and appeared to be clearly off the canvas when Edwards waved his arms and ended the fight, angering Scott and his team because he had risen before the full 10-count. Edwards, however, never completed the count, simply waving the fight over after reaching nine.

"There was no doubt that the count did not reach 10 prior to Malik getting up," Goossen wrote to the British Boxing Board of Control. "The referee reached nine and simultaneously Malik got up. Whether or not 10 had to be verbally stated by the referee or just the elapsed time of 10 occurring, the facts [and video] will show neither happened in this case.

"Bottom line, Malik was up at the count of nine. The key is the decision was ruled a KO and not a TKO and subsequently the referee is required to count to 10 or, at the least, not wave the fight off until a full 10 seconds had elapsed, which it did not. A TKO would have allowed the referee to call the fight anytime before the count of 10. We've requested the British Boxing Board of Control to review the video and have asked to have the KO result changed to a no-contest."

Goossen told ESPN.com that he believed that Edwards made an honest mistake and that the Scott team just wants it to be corrected. "The sports world has evolved through the years and a lot of it is through the use of instant replay," Goossen said. "We have the ability here, regardless if it's days afterward, to make the right call. I don't think the referee did anything intentional to help the hometown fighter. I believe it was an honest mistake.

"What eats at me, and what I feel bad about, is you take a fighter like Malik, and there are thousands like him, who give their blood, sweat and tears to this sport," he said. "They are doing everything they can to get to the top and then something like this happens.

"It's not right for the fighter. If he loses, I want him to get that loss. If he didn't deserve to have the fight stopped, he shouldn't be penalised for it because the referee made a mistake. There is too much at stake. I don't want to take anything from Chisora because this was a competitive fight, but it should not have ended on a mistake made by the referee."

It has not been determined if the British Boxing Board of Control will review the fight and consider Goossen's request.

This article first appeared on espn.com

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd