FANS have claimed Nick Ball was robbed after his fight with Rey Vargas ended in a draw.
The pair fought on the undercard of Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou in the Kingdom Arena, Riyadh.
The fight was controversially called as a draw
ReutersNick Ball felt he did enough to win the fight[/caption]
ReutersRey Vargas was dropped twice[/caption]
GettyBall was denied the featherweight world title[/caption]
Brit Ball took a while to get to grips with the featherweight champion as Vargas edged the early exchanges.
But the Liverpudlian started to find his target and rocked the Mexican on more than one occasion.
He dropped Vargas twice and viewers had Ball winning each of the last six rounds.
So many were, including a fuming Frank Warren, were shocked when the judges scored the contest a draw, and the announcement was greeted with boos inside the venue.
Fans claimed Ball was robbed after one judge scored the bout 114-112 in Vargas’ favour.
One reacted saying: “Nick Ball was robbed.”
Another added: “Nick Ball was robbed there. Two legitimate knockdowns also not counted.”
Former boxer Carl Frampton said: “I’ve absolutely no idea how Ball didn’t win that ”
Frank Warren fumed at the result
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The official X account of Specsavers also got involved, cheekily tweeting Matchroom: “Can you fly us out?”
The other judges scored 116-110 to Ball and 113-113, making it a draw.
Promoter Warren raged after the result was announced, saying: “We won the fight. We’re not crybabies we won the fight.
“Listen to the crowd, did he win it or did he not win it?! Who won the fight? He won the fight.
“I just don’t understand, how was that a split? He had him down twice, he lost a few of the early rounds but he won that round.”
He tweeted after the fight: “Nick Ball should be a world champion tonight and will no doubt be in the very near future.
“Be proud of your effort.”
A devastated Ball felt he had done enough to win the fight and was downbeat after the bout.
He said: “I had two knockdowns and I was putting the pressure on for the whole fight.
“I was the aggressor in the fight so I thought I did enough to win it.”