Robin Ciric lost his fight against Teodor Hristov yesterday during Glory 96 in Rotterdam. The result came after an extra fourth round and is considered questionable by many. Ciric himself does not agree with the decision, but as he says: “What’s done is never forgotten.”
Even though Glory 96 was a successful event, the jury is under heavy fire. It is not the first time that their decisions have raised questions.
Controversy after knockdown in second round
“After a knockdown, according to Glory rules you have to get a 10-8 round from all judges,” Ciric explained to both Vechtsport Info and ChampsTalk. Ciric refers here to the clear rules within the organization, but according to him this was not complied with yesterday. “A Bulgarian jury member gave 10-9. That one point cost me the win.”
According to Ciric, the extra lap that followed was not necessary. “If I had gotten that 10-8 in the second round, I would have won.”
The points scoring of Glory 96
Another extra round for El Bouni and Stoica
The fight between Ibrahim El Bouni and Bogdan Stoica also ended in an extra round. As with Ciric’s party, critics here also believe that the extra round was unjustified. El Bouni eventually won in extra time, but according to many he had already shown enough in the first three rounds to take the victory.
One of the least action-packed fights of the evening, between Bobo Sacko and Denis Wosik, ended with a narrow defeat for Wosik even after an extra round. It was a match that did not necessarily brighten up the evening, but did contribute extra to the criticism of the jury. Wosik lost, even though the fight hardly deserved a winner according to some.
Repeated criticism of the Glory jury
The controversy surrounding Glory’s jury is not new. Last month, during Glory 95 in Zagreb, Croatia, the jury also came under fire. The jury, composed by sports association VON, received harsh criticism from top coaches Mike Passenier and Maik Polanen.
These coaches, who are important players in the kickboxing world, expressed their dissatisfaction with how the judging was done. Many believe that Glory needs to overhaul its judging policy to prevent fighters from being robbed of their well-deserved victory.
