The Jose Uzcategui-Andre Dirrell saga that began with a wild punch after the bell rang in their May fight for a world title has reached another chapter.
Dirrell won the vacant IBF interim super middleweight title by eighth-round DQ after Uzcategui punched him just as the bell rang to end the eighth round and he was ruled unable to continue on the Gary Russell Jr.-Oscar Escandon undercard at the MGM National Harbor. The fight caused a ton of commotion as there were arguments being made whether or not Uzcategui intentionally threw the punch after the bell had rang or not.
The Maryland State Athletic Commission has voted to uphold the original ruling made by referee Bill Clancy in the fight from May. Commission spokeswoman Theresa M. Blaner said in a statement given to ESPN the commission made the ruling with a 3-1 vote -- one commission member was absent and could not vote.
"The Maryland State Athletic Commission conducted a hearing regarding a protest of the referee's decision made in the May 20, 2017 world title match between boxers Andre Dirrell and Jose Uzcategui. After hearing expert testimony, the commission upheld the call of referee Bill Clancy. The commission's written determination will be issued within the next month," the statement said.
Uzcategui's adviser Sean Gibbons told ESPN that he wholeheartedly disagreed with the ruling and said Clancy "misrepresented the facts" of the matter at the time.
"Our position is that Mr. Clancy lost control of the situation," Gibbons said. "He overrode the doctor to make the decision. He's the sole arbiter, but one of the things Mr. Clancy did was when Mr. Dirrell was down on his knees he told him to get up. He said, 'Are you OK?' And Dirrell nodded yes. Then he went to the corner and screamed, 'Get me a doctor' while people outside the ring, including Mr. Dirrell's brother, told him to fall over. One of our contentions was that as the doctor was entering the ring, Mr. Clancy said to him, 'Tell me if Dirrell can continue.' And 10 seconds into the doctor looking at Mr. Dirrell, Clancy yelled, 'I'm disqualifying [Uzcategui]!' Throughout the whole testimony, Bill Clancy was very combative as he was in the ring that night to Uzcategui and it felt like he was under attack. We feel he misrepresented the facts."
Despite Dirrell winning via disqualification, Leon Lawson Jr., Dirrell's uncle and assistant trainer, stormed across the ring and hit a hard left hand on Uzcategui's face after the fight had ended, causing a commotion and wild goose chase as police tried to apprehend Lawson.
Even with the ruling, the IBF still has a rematch issued for both fighters, but as of this writing, no such rematch has yet to have been agreed upon.
