Anthony Olascuaga Files Request For WBO To Overturn No-Decision To TKO Win Over Jonathan Gonzalez
Anthony Olascuaga’s team seeks a ruling that will provide a more definitive outcome to his first title defense.
Steps have been taken in hopes of changing his No-Decision versus Jonathan ‘Bomba’ Gonzalez to a first-round technical knockout. Their Oct. 14 WBO flyweight title fight ended after just 145 seconds due to an earlier clash of heads. Puerto Rico’s Gonzalez eventually informed referee Robert Hoyle that he could not continue, at which point the fight was halted.
A point of contention raised by Rudy Hernandez, Olascuaga’s trainer and manager, was that Gonzalez was previously cleared to continue and quit on his own. Because of that, he believes there is grounds for Olascuaga (7-1, 5 KOs; 1ND) to earn a stoppage victory.
“In the first round of the fight at 1:10 [left in the round] there was an unintentional headbutt which caused a cut on Gonzalez’s left eye,” Hernandez explained to the WBO in a letter obtained by The Ring. “[Referee] Robert Hoyle called the ringside doctor to check the cut. [A]fter inspecting said cut he advised [Hoyle] that Gonzalez could continue to fight. The contest resumed and Gonzalez kept fighting for another 25 seconds approximately.
“[During] a clinch, he decided not to continue and the referee… stopped the fight. Since he did not want to continue after the doctor advised that he was OK to continue my boxer Olascuaga should have been declared the winner by TKO. Instead, the supervisor of the fight and the Japanese Boxing Commission (JBC) representative Mr. Tsuyoshi Yasukochi advised the referee that the fight should be declared a No-Decision.
“We would like to respectfully ask your organization to review and investigate the outcome of this fight and overturn the decision to a TKO win for Olascuaga.”
The request could ultimately fall on deaf ears.
Sanctioning bodies do not have the power to overturn an official decision. Their involvement is normally to force a rematch or invalidate a title reign when the belt is won or defended under dubious circumstances.
The official ruling resides with the JBC, who would have to review and rule on whether to overturn the call. All that can be done by the WBO is to review the fight and make its recommendation to the presiding commission.
Gonzalez entered the fight as the mandatory challenger. Olascuaga is understandably concerned that he would be bound to a rematch since the Oct. 14 fight was rendered moot given the outcome.
There is greater desire for Olascuaga to further unify the flyweight division. Three of the four 112-pound belts were at stake during Teiken Promotions’ two-day, seven title fight extravaganza in Tokyo.
Seigo Yuri Akui (21-2-1, 11 KOs) retained his WBA belt in an Oct. 13 points win over Thailand’s Thananchai Charunphak (25-2, 15 KOs). The same show saw Kenshiro Teraji (24-1, 15 KOs) claim the vacant WBC flyweight title in a ninth-round knockout of Cristofer Rosales (37-7, 22 KOs).
Olascuaga’s lone defeat came in a ninth-round stoppage to Teraji last April in a last-minute assignment.
Fittingly, it came in place of Gonzalez and saw Olascuaga fight at junior flyweight. Teraji retained his RING, WBC and WBA 108-pound championship with the win.
Gonzalez was the WBO junior flyweight titlist and in line for the unification bout that evening. However, he fell ill and was forced to withdraw. Gonzalez and Olascuaga are both promoted by All-Star Boxing, which made for an easy switch that night.
Olascuaga, who is co-promoted by Teiken, subsequently scored back-to-back knockout wins. Included among them was his third-round stoppage of Riku Kano (22-5-2, 11 KOs) on July 20 to win the WBO flyweight strap.
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