Ben Whittaker was cruising. Nine rounds in the bank against Conor Wallace in Birmingham, showboating like the fight was already decided. Then the 12th round happened.
Wallace turned the final three minutes into a nightmare. Whittaker hit the canvas three times. Referee Kieran McCann called zero knockdowns. The clip of the round is all over boxing social media now, and fans are calling it a robbery.
The cards were out of reach anyway: 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113 for Whittaker. He stays unbeaten at 13-0-1, keeps his WBC Silver belt, and becomes the IBF mandatory challenger, which lines him up for a shot at unified champion Dmitry Bivol.
Whittaker owned the shaky finish afterward. He said it got too easy, he took his eye off the ball and started playing around. Wallace called for the rematch on the spot. Former champion George Groves said he was surprised the referee never scored a knockdown.
Photo: National Lottery Good Causes via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
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