Badou Jack kept alive his slim hopes of winning a world title in a third weight division when he scraped past Richard Rivera on the undercard of Anthony Joshua's rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.
But the result was controversial not only because many observers felt Rivera had done enough to win, but because the eighth round lasted four minutes when the officials failed to ring the bell. The round, which should have lasted three minutes, may have proved crucial with Jack comfortably winning the session.
He was later given the nod after the 10 rounds were completed, with two judges scoring the fight 96-94 in his favour and the other giving Rivera the nod by the same margin. Afterwards, Jack said: "I think I did enough; he had an awkward, ugly style so I kind of fell into his game.
"I have the experience but it wasn't my best night but we got the job done. A fight is not three rounds so that's good, but I need to pick it up better next time." Jack has held world titles at super-middleweight and light-heavyweight, and asked if he still believed he could win one at cruiserweight, he added: "Definitely, but I have to step my game up, I can't fight like this."
Rivera, who lost his unbeaten record, was naturally upset with the decision, and said: "I felt like I did enough. I’m a little hurt because I really believed in the boxing judging system. I felt like regardless of the odds being against me, I came into his turf and under his stipulations and I still did my thing. I felt like I did enough for the victory.
"I believed in the justice system and I guess it failed me that time, but I’m not discouraged. I would love a rematch but I doubt somebody like him would take it, especially on my turf." Also on the undercard in Jeddah, Ben Whittaker eased to victory in his second professional fight, while Ramla Ali recorded a stunning first-round KO to make the first professional fight between two women in Saudi Arabia.
