Whitehawk’s Harvey Dykes appeared to outbox his opponent Dorin Krasmaru at the York Hall on Saturday night, but was only awarded a confusing draw by referee Mark Bates.
Scores of 93-93 were announced to chorus of boos from a crowd that expected Dykes, a former National Amateur Champion, to have his hand raised.
After a nip and tuck first few rounds, the 29-year-old took control as he relaxed into the fight, found his timing and outworked a much bigger opponent. It was an impressive first outing over ten rounds, with the longer distance actually seeming to suit the Southpaw.
A mathematically improbable scorecard compounded the frustration for Dykes and his many supporters. A card of 93-93 implies that both fighters lost 7 rounds each, but there were only ten in total.
Further points can be deducted for knockdowns, penalties or rounds where a fighter was particularly dominated, but none of these seemed to occur.
“I won that fight. It is upsetting that I didn’t get the decision and the scores don’t even make sense,” said Dykes afterwards.
“We are going to ask the Boxing Board to explain how it could have been 93-93.
“They have either announced the wrong score or added the cards up wrong.
“But there are lot of positives to take from the fight. A lot of people tipped me to lose, but I was comfortable in there and did the ten rounds easily.
“I proved I am ready for a title shot. Let’s get the rematch on for the Southern Area.”
Photo: Sonny Burtenshaw