WBC to test video replays during fights
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The World Boxing Council will introduce video replays during fights on a trial basis and has urged all boxing commissions to utilise the technology to avoid mistakes.
The WBC approved the establishment of a three-person panel, comprised of a WBC official, a member of the local commission and a monitor supervisor, to use replays to rule on controversial incidents.
"This will be a great tool for fairness and justice in boxing," WBC executive secretary Mauricio Sulaiman told Reuters on Thursday.
"It can help in cases when the audience in the arena and whole world is watching on television realises that something has happened that was not correctly called by the referee, who might have missed it, because his vision was obscured."
Sulaiman said replays could be used to determine if a cut or other injury to the face was a result of a punch, or other contact, such as a head butt.
It could also help with rulings on low blows or to determine whether a punch was thrown after the bell, he added.
Under WBC guidelines, a referee's decision can only be overruled if the panel unanimously agrees that the ruling was mistaken.
The referee may call time out during the fight to consult with the instant replay panel, Sulaiman said. After each round the replay panel could also review controversial incidents.
However, the use of instant replay is up to the discretion of the local boxing commission, he said.
The technology will be used on a trial basis before the WBC's board of governors decides whether to permanently adopt it at their annual convention in October in China.
(Writing by Larry Fine in New York, editing by Martin Petty)
