Boxing trainer turned analyst, Teddy Atlas, has taken aim at the Nevada Commission in the wake of Devin Haney’s undisputed lightweight title defence against Vasiliy Lomachenko.
Haney took the decision on all three judges’ scorecards after an elite-level twelve rounds that showcased some of the best technique and movement the sport has to offer.
Despite many feeling Lomachenko did enough to win – including himself and some big name boxing stars – there’s a general consensus that the fight could go either way, or even be called a draw.
There was one round, however, that the majority feel was clear for the Ukrainian. Loma found most success in the tenth and eleventh, in which he was out throwing and out landing his 25-year-old opponent.
The spirited affair in those two rounds particularly had many believing the challenger was about to take the win, however there was no chance on that on judge Dave Moretti’s scorecard. He gave the tenth to Haney, and would ultimately score the contest 116-112.
Atlas took particular issue with that late round scoring by Moretti, and took to Twitter to demand an inquest conduced by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
If Nevada Commission doesn’t call Moretti in and make him explain giving 10th to Haney, then we should start petition to disband them. #HaneyLoma
— Teddy Atlas (@TeddyAtlasReal) May 21, 2023
The analyst, whose popular podcast The Fight breaks down the weeks’ combat sports, then looked at the organisation in general, asking questions of boxing fans as to who they want running the sport.
“So looks like the Nevada Commission became self funding in 2015, but the monies come from Boxing Events.
So during Pandemic the Promoters payed the Commission, and now they take 8 % of Gate receipts from Boxing Events. So the Promoters keep the Commission in Business, does that mean they are Partners in a sense?
Would you want to depend on a Commission which is funded by Boxing, also to be overseeing the Sport.”
It’s an interesting topic of discussion, one which Atlas likely won’t drop but, at the same time, doubtful that anything comes from it.