British Boxing Board clears Wilder vs. Chisora official after ‘most biased refereeing ever’
Derek Chisora in action against Deontay Wilder at The O2, London. Picture date: Saturday April 4, 2026. (Photo by Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images) | PA Images via Getty Images The referee who oversaw Deontay Wilder vs.
Derek Chisora on Saturday night in London’s O2 Arena will not be disciplined for his poor performance, according to the British Boxing Board of Control. That has a lot of people angry, considering how atrocious U. K.
ref Mark Bates was at keeping the wild fight under control. Amongst the crazy things that happened, Chisora’s coach jumped into the ring in the middle of the 1st round and his corner helped push him back into the ring in the 8th. Both are DQ-worthy, but Bates didn’t issue a point deduction or warning.
Bates also stepped in to stop Wilder from potentially knocking Chisora down in the 3rd, and took a questionable point from Wilder in the 8th. Longtime boxing commentator Al Bernstein was clearly unimpressed by the British Boxing Board of Control’s decision not to sanction Bates, calling his performance “the most biased piece of refereeing I have ever seen. ” Where is the BBBoC on this?
A cornerman runs into the ring mid-round? What? pic.