Former world heavyweight title challenger Artur Szpilka fought over the weekend and his decision victory over Sergey Radchenko has caused an outrage in his home country of Poland. Szpilka, now fighting down at cruiserweight, was awarded a ten round majority decision over Radchenko, winning via scores of 95-93 twice and a third judge having it all-even at 94-94.
Szpilka is now 24-4(16). Radcehnko, a tough journeyman from Ukraine who is a better fighter than his record suggests, is now 7-6(2). he has never been stopped as a pro.
But the final result only served to get everyone in Poland talking. Or shouting. Szpilka may have edged the opening two rounds, and the 10th and final round, but an honest observer would have been hard-pressed to give “The Pin” anything else. Decked in the third and fifth rounds, Szpilka looked weak, easy to hit and extremely vulnerable. The referee – in the opinion of the Polish critics on Szpilka’s side – actually deducted a point from Radchenko in the ninth, for supposedly hitting Szpilka on the back of the head. At the time, Szpilka’s legs looked gone and the third man undeniably did the 30 year old a big favor. No wonder Radchenko’s corner-men were absolutely furious.
But the judges from Austria who scored the fight for Szpilka are getting the lion’s share of the bad press in Poland. Some boxing experts in that part of the world are going as far as to call for an official investigation into the scoring. No doubt, Szpilka WM10 Radcehnko is 2020’s Robbery of the Year thus far. This one was disgraceful. Check out the fight via YouTube and see if you agree.
The least Sziplka should do is grant 32 year old Radchenko a rematch. Unless of course Szpilka decides to retire. He really did look that bad. Maybe Deontay Wilder, with that “I thought I’d killed him” KO from 2016, along with the equally nasty knockout Szpilka suffered at the hands of Dereck Chisora last July, took more out of the Polish southpaw than we thought.
