Ghanaian boxing referee Roger Banor has urged Ghanaian sports journalists not to be one-sided sports journalists but should learn to know the technicalities in all sporting disciplines.
He said this after officiating Saturday’s IBO lightweight world title bout between Ghanaian Emmanuel Tagoe and his Argentinean compatriot Fernando David Saucedo at the Bukom Boxing Arena which has brought about much controversies as many suggest his decision to end the fight prematurely at the 10th round was a below belt decision from a boxing official of his caliber.
Tagoe in that bout was defending his world IBO lightweight title belt for the first time.
The astute boxing official speaking to Kumasi based Angel FM expressed “Ghanaian Sports journalists shouldn’t be football journalists but sports journalists.
“Why because you can’t report on a particular sporting discipline you as a sports journalist doesn’t know of its rules and regulations. You should be conversant with the rules of the game which then and there you can report.
“But once you decides to report on a sports you’re ignorant about its governing rules then you’re going to mislead the public which in most cases becomes unfair on the part of some officials on the game of boxing. So they should be sports journalist and not football journalist,” Roger Banor noted.
The vociferous gaffer added ” I was too patient with Saucedo because I should’ve easily disqualify him to end the bout for reasons being that he deliberately removed his teeth guide twice, he insulted me in the course of the bout and above all for him pushing me as the centre referee should’ve been the end of the bout,
“Because he has no right to touch me not alone to push me,” he voiced out.
Explaining why he threw in towel and why he ended the fight at the 10th round said “With the throwing of towel in the world of boxing is long overdue, for close to 16 years now.
“In the sense that one can go to stand at the receiving corner of an opponent to throw-in the towel which in most cases brings about confusion. But in other for a trainer to ask an official to end a bout will have to come on to the apron to signify to me his ward has had enough of the bout for me to end the bout, which Saucedo’s trainers did.
“For both trainer from Saucedo’s corner to come on to the apron prompted me to stop the fight,” the astute boxing referee ended.
