WBA suspends judge indefinitely after controversial scorecard, racist tweets

The World Boxing Association has suspended judge Gloria Martinez Rizzo indefinitely following her controversial scorecard in the Mykal Fox versus Gabriel Maestre interim welterweight title fight and the discovery of racist tweets, president Gilberto Mendoza said, according to ESPN's Mike Coppinger.

"We saw her score was wrong despite the unanimous decision," Mendoza said. "Those comments she made in the past - she might be expelled by the WBA.

"I don't support any kind of racism. I believe in equality. ... Sports are the only thing that brings equality into the world sometimes."

The judge returned a 117-110 scorecard in favor of Maestre on Saturday, despite Fox scoring a second-round knockdown. Maestre won the bout by unanimous decision, which generated outrage from fans.

The other two judges scored the fight 115-112 and 114-113 in favor of Maestre.

Racist tweets dating back to 2020 from a Twitter account belonging to @GloriaRizz soon surfaced after the decision. LeBron James and Michelle Obama were among those targeted in the posts. The account has since been deleted.

The WBA also announced it has stripped Maestre of the interim welterweight belt and declared the title vacant. The organization is also asking the Minnesota Office of Combative Sports to change the result of the fight to "no contest."

"The Minnesota Office of Combative Sports has a grievance procedure. However, it is ultimately up to the World Boxing Association to determine if there is a rematch," the MOCS said in a statement to Coppinger.

Mendoza reportedly ordered an immediate rematch between Fox and Maestre with some added stipulations. The sequel will feature no champion's advantage, and a draw would lead to the title being vacated instead of remaining with the current champion, per Coppinger.

If a rematch can't happen in the immediate future, the title will reportedly be temporarily suspended.