The commentators saw for themselves how the officiating took its toll on Filipino flyweight Violito Payla who lost to Uzbekistan’s Tulashboy Doniyorov, 36-26, Tuesday evening in Athens.
Payla fought a great fight, according to the commentators, who sounded like Americans, but for so many occasions where he landed a good punch "did not get the credit from the judges."
Cuban referee Fernando Pedrosa, they said over the television coverage, did a terrible job in trying to control the match where the Uzbek could and should have been warned several times.
Or even disqualified.
Midway through the second round, Doniyorov held the back of Payla’s head with his right hand then threw a left uppercut, catching the Filipino right on the face and knocking him down.
It was just the first of so many "knockdowns" by Payla, not from a punch but from the Uzbek’s rough, dirty tactics.
"It was terrible job of officiating by Fernando Pedrosa. I think we should rename this referee in absentia," said one of the commentators.
"That is the most appalling display of refereeing I think I’ve ever seen in the Olympics. Utterly inept. What do you have to do to get disqualified? There was enough reason to disqualify that guy and nothing happened," he added.
"There’s Anwar Chowdry (the Pakistani president of world amateur boxing) sitting right there. Why don’t you walk down and tell him what you said," said the other commentator.
"How many sports are there where you have the head of the sports association overlooking his own judges.
Judges that he picked, judges that do not have to come back to the Olympics unless they do well. I can only think of one and we’re at it," he added.
"From what I saw, It looked like Doniyorov was holding him with one hand and hitting him with the other. That is highly illegal. Payla was already off-balanced when he was hit. Payla has set a record for falling down here. I think he’s hit the canvass five times already and the referee is not doing anything," he said.
The commentators were clearly disgusted with the Cuban referee whom they described too slow.
"He’s kind of sleepwalking. And now the crowd is clearly behind the Filipino boxer. He has earned their respect," said one of the commentators.
As the referee raised the hand of the Uzbek after the fight, he said: "There’s your winner. And I’m out of here."