President of the Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA) Ryan Wissow has ordered a rematch between Shondell Mystery Lady’ Alfred and Corinne De Groot to take place 120 days from September 28.
Alfred had defeated De Groot at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall via a unanimous decision to capture the WIBA bantamweight title but the De Groot camp later protested the decision to the WIBA.
De Groot and her team had argued that Alfred was sent four times to the canvas and that at least on two of those occasions she was legitimately knocked down but referee Eion Jardine called them all ‘slips’.
“The referee missed a knockdown in round 10, but by then Shondell was well ahead on points and even if he scored other knockdowns, Shondell still would’ve won a decision. The referee did a good job from rounds 1 through 9,” Wissow said via an email to this news paper explaining the decision for the rematch.
The WIBA boss added that… “Her (De Groot) people actually wanted me to overturn the decision, which is outrageous! She came on strong late in the fight, but by then she was way behind on the scorecards,” added Wissow.
Wissow said that the decision was fair, but it was the referee who was the main issue. The rematch, he says might take place in the USA, adding that he had already gotten a call from one promoter.
The WIBA founder noted that local promoter Carwyn Holland had…“offered Corinne a December 27th rematch but she declined, saying her team can’t travel during the holidays because they have families.”
But while the rematch has been ordered, Wissow said that there was a possibility that Alfred may fight for the vacant WIBA super flyweight (115 lbs) world title early next year, with the rematch with De Groot taking place after that..
In the bout at the Sports Hall, Judges Ian Alves scored the fight 99-90, Lionel Sullivan 97-90 and Trevor Arno 96-92, all in favour of Alfred who had knocked down De Groot after one minute, 13 seconds of the second round.
The win had given the 27 year-old Alfred the recognition of becoming Guyana’s seventh world champion, following Andrew Lewis, Vivian Harris, Wayne Braithwaite, Pamela London, Gwendolyn O Neil and Gairy St Clair.
Alfred has maintained throughout that she had won the fight fair and square and she out boxed ‘The Panther’.