Damaen Kelly Controversy
In April 2006, Damaen Kelly challenged Maludrottu at the Andersonstown Leisure Centre in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Kelly was attempting to become the first Irishman to capture the European (EBU) Bantamweight Title and the first Irish fighter to win the European title at two different weights.
Maludrottu was the naturally bigger man and carried more power having fought and Bantamweight for the majority of his career however Kelly possessed the faster hands and higher technical ability. Kelly's footwork and precise darting jabs frustrated Maludrottu as Kelly stayed out of his range leaving him unable to make his superior power pay. Despite this Maludrottu won an extremely controversial decision by a unanimous points decision. Punch stats showed the that Kelly landed 155 punches while the Maludrottu landed only 87 and the vast majority of onlookers believed that Kelly had won a fairly comfortable decision, but the Sardinian was given the verdict by all three judges. Kelly's promoter Tommy Gilmour stated that "that was shameful. It was the biggest robbery I've seen in 35 years of boxing".
In the following rematch in Maludrottu's hometown of Olbia, on 25 November 2006, Maludrottu stopped Kelly inside three rounds after Kelly's trainer Mickey Hawkins threw in the towel. Kelly announced his retirement immediately after the fight stating "the time has come for me to walk away. The defeat on Saturday night just confirmed that to me. Every sportsman comes to a point when they know they are at that stage when it is time to go. I've had a great career with highs and lows and I've achieved an awful lot". This was to be Kelly's last fight although he was still the number one ranked Irish bantamweight boxer at the time.
Read more about this topic: Simone Maludrottu
Famous quotes containing the word controversy:
“And therefore, as when there is a controversy in an account, the parties must by their own accord, set up for right Reason, the Reason of some Arbitrator, or Judge, to whose sentence, they will both stand, or their controversy must either come to blows, or be undecided, for want of a right Reason constituted by Nature; so is it also in all debates of what kind soever.”
—Thomas Hobbes (1579–1688)