ATTENTION OF THE I.F.B.A
RE: PROTEST FILING- BLACKSHEAR VS KIM FIGHT OCT 15, 2009, INCHEON
CITY, SOUTH KOREA
As Jolene Blackshear’s manager, please find this as our official
protest being filed with the I.F.B.A regarding the above fight.
First and foremost, Jolene Blackshear would like to thank the
I.F.B.A. for taking their own action to file a protest of the
decision rendered by the judges. Team Blackshear would also like to
express sincere gratitude and appreciation to the promotion team
Woon-Chul Shin and Ju Gang-Ho for providing their services leading
up to and during, the week of the fight and for the opportunity to
participate in such a well-orchestrated and meaningful event. The
official scores were 97-94, 96-94, 96-94, all in favor of Dan-Bi
Kim. After a careful review of the fight video, I am presenting the
following comments.
(1) It is transparent and without question that some of the rounds
should not have been scored for Ms. Kim, especially rounds one and
two. Round one was clearly dominated and won by Ms. Blackshear, who
controlled the tempo, pace, landed clean, solid, devastating blows
and displayed clear ring generalship. Additionally, due to her solid
defense, Ms. Blackshear was able to slip and avoid the majority of
Ms. Kim’s punches; and, the minimal punches of Ms. Kim that did land
were ineffective. Throughout the round Dan-Bi Kim was holding by the
back of the neck and hitting Blackshear without subsequent warning
or point deduction. Also, at 1:22 in this round, Kim punches
Blackshear in the back of the head with no warning from the referee.
At 1:20, Kim holds and hits behind the head of Blackshear again.
Inexplicably, the scorecards show all three judges scoring this
round 10-9 in favor of Kim.
(2) At 1:17 of the second round, it clear that Jolene Blackshear
suffered a severe cut above the left eye caused by a headbutt from
Dan-Bi Kim leaping in and grabbing Ms. Blackshear by the back of the
head. Ms. Blackshear was winning this round, but the clash of heads
was not ruled a headbutt. Despite this, Blackshear continued to
finish the round as strongly as she started it.
Throughout the second round Dan-Bi Kim was again holding Blackshear
by the back of the neck/head and hitting without point deduction,
beginning at 1:40, occurring again at 1:15 after the headbutt. The
scorecards did not deduct a point from Kim and add a point to
Blackshear as required in the event of an accidental headbutt. As
the ring doctor examined Blackshear’s cut, the commission surrounded
the doctor and fight which did not allow the corner of Blackshear to
hear what was being said to Blackshear or to view the cut itself.
(3) Beginning at 1:49 of the third round, Ms. Kim begins bringing
her head down below the belt line, with no warning and repeats
throughout the round. 1:19 of the third round, Ms. Blackshear was
hit below the belt, and no warning was given. Throughout the round,
Dan-Bi Kim was holding Blackshear by the back of the neck and
hitting behind the head (1:38, 1:05, and 0:28); and, also clashing
Ms. Blackshear with her head without warning or point deduction.
(4) At 1:44 of the fourth round, after a successful Blackshear
combination, Ms. Kim is holding onto Blackshear and locking onto the
ropes behind her.
(5) In the fifth round, at 0:59, 0:52 and 0:40, Kim is holding and
hitting behind the head of Blackshear. At 0:46, Kim hits flush after
break is called by the referee.
(6) At 1:06/7of the sixth round, Dan-Bi Kim’s coach pulls on the
ropes to propel his fighter forward while she is sitting on the
ropes due to a combination of connecting blows by Ms. Blackshear. At
0:36 of the sixth round, Dan-Bi Kim holds Ms. Blackshear by pressing
her onto the ropes and with both hands, grabs onto the ropes behind
her, thus preventing Blackshear from moving. Throughout the round
(blatantly at 0:04), Dan-Bi Kim was holding by the back of the neck
and hitting without point deduction.
(7) At 0:54 of the seventh round, Dan-Bi Kim’s coach flagrantly
reaches in the ring (and onto the apron) and taps the leg of Dan-Bi
Kim, while she and Ms. Blackshear are in a clinch in the red corner.
At 1:58 of round seven, Dan-Bi Kim continues to hold behind the head
and hit. No warning or point deduction given.
(8) In round 8 at 0:14, Dan-Bi Kim turns her back on her opponent,
and then swings at Blackshear, followed by another hold and strike
against the back of the head (0:10), with no warning from the
referee.
Despite what action the Korean Boxing Commission may or may not
take, we submit the following request. Upon your protest filing as
the sanctioning body, we would urge you, the I.F.B.A., to set aside
this decision, or declare a no contest at a bare minimum. Jolene
Blackshear won this fight by landing the cleaner, more effective
punches, displaying solid defense, counteracting repeated
infractions that were never called or penalized and by displaying
superior conditioning throughout the entire fight. As your I.F.B.A.
governing by-laws allow for you to set a rematch where a
questionable verdict has taken place, Jolene Blackshear welcomes
that opportunity. Dan-Bi Kim had a legitimate loss in Thailand where
the neutral referee, Franz Marti of Switzerland, regretfully
indicated that he should have ultimately disqualified Kim after she
was deducted an unheard of 5 points for excessive head butting,
holding and hitting, and striking with the inside of the glove, the
exact same thing that happened on Thursday (10/15/09) in the fight
with Jolene Blackshear. I mention this because after the fight,
Dan-Bi Kim approached Jolene Blackshear directly to apologize for
headbutting her several times, admitting to their awareness of this
tactic.
All in all, our trip was quite enjoyable and we look forward to
fighting very soon. We are doing our best to find the positives out
of this situation; however, we question ever returning to Korea for
such an event. The size of the purse does not outweigh the lack of
communication, unjust scoring and one-sided officiating. Jolene
Blackshear not only deserves a rematch on neutral soil; but, she
also deserves a complete investigation of the fight (Dan-Bi Kim vs.
Jolene Blackshear 10/15/09) and a review of the original fight
video. Also, the size of this purse does not adequately reflect the
unparalleled hard work, adaptability and professionalism displayed
by Blackshear. Our athlete and team adapted seamlessly to the
travel, the time change, the culture, the people, the food, the
continued shuttling around despite her needing rest, the lack of
communication, the overall “unknown”, and still received an unjust
decision.
I will continue to protect and advocate for my athletes at any cost
and hope that the IFBA understands that we expect the same from
them.
Kalina Fernandez
Trainer and Manager, Jolene Blackshear
You Tube Video:
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