Veteran boxing referee Bruce Mctavish of New Zealand, the World Boxing Council (WBC) secretary general for ring officials, today said the wounds suffered by former WBC silver flyweight champion Edrin Dapudong of the Philippines shown in a video posted on YouTube (http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=5pSYPxDcdrY) and photos sent to him appeared "unusually deep" and could not have been caused by the gloves' lace or the ring ropes.
"They are unusual and looking at the video and the pictures, there's no way they could have been caused by the lace of the gloves or the ring ropes," Mctavish told Dapudong's manager, former North Cotabato governor Manny Pinol in an overseas phone conversation.
Mctavish, who has been delivering lectures for WBC ring officials during the annual convention for the last nine years, made the assessment after receiving the pictures and appreciating the video posted on YouTube.com.
He promised to take up the issue in the forthcoming WBC Annual Convention in Cancun, Mexico in November.
Dapudong, who clearly lost to challenger Wilbert Uicab of Mexico in 12 rounds, sustained the cuts during the fight Sept. 17 in Cancun. It was cutman Jeff de Gizman who first noticed the unusual cuts in Dapudong's right arm and shoulder during the fight. A deeper examination showed the injures included six deep laceratrions similar to wounds sustained from a sharp blade.
"I am not complaining against the result of the fight. The officials were fair and Edrin lost clearly. But I am raising this issue to prevent incidents like this from happening again," Pinol told Mctavish.
Pinol, who earlier wrote WBC Secretary General Mauricio Sulaiman officially through WBC International head Mauro Betti, made two recommendations to ensure the safety of the boxers which included 1) diligent and careful examination of all parts of the boxers' gloves to ensure that no sharp objects would be embedded in the lace and the diligent and careful "touching and inspection" of the ring ropes, especially the highest strand, by the referee.
Mctavish told Pinol that he appreciated the boxing manager's decision to come out in the open to expose the Cancun incident to ensure a safer conduct of boxing events.
The last controversy involving dirty tricks in boxing was the attempted use of the plaster of paris, which hardens like a rock which wet, by Antonio Margarito in a fight against Shane Mosley. Margarito was suspended by the California Boxing Commission following the discovery.
"I will certainly include your recommendations in our discussions during the ring officials conference in the coming (WBC) convention in Cancun," Mctavish assured Pinol.(pr)
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