A DECISION by the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC) to sanction a heavyweight bout between veteran Joe Bugner and the British champion Scott Welch in Ireland but not in Britain was attacked yesterday by promoter Frank Warren and the Boxing Union of Ireland.
The BBBC had originally turned the fight down over doubts about Bugner's fitness but the organisation relented yesterday with Board secretary John Morris saying "We have given Welch permission to fight Bugner in Ireland. It is now a matter for the Irish union to decide whether they grant Bugner a licence."
The decision was greeted with dismay on the part of the BUI which now seems likely to receive an application to stage the fight as one of the supporting events of the Steve Collins Neville Brown WBO super middleweight championship promotion in Millstreet on March 9th.
"It's crazy," said Mel Christle of the BUI yesterday. "If they, authorise a fight why can't they authorise it in their own jurisdiction.
"We are not a toilet for the British board's problems. We will take any application that we receive on its merit but 72 hours ago they refused permission for this fight to go ahead and now they have staged a complete turnaround on the issue."
Christle said that any application would only be considered after "proper and adequate" consideration had been given to the medical evidence from both Britain and Australia regarding the fitness to fight of Bugner, who is reigning Australian champion after staging a return to the ring last year.
The BBBC's change of heart is believed to have been prompted by the threat of a restraint of trade action by Welch but Christle feels that the BBBC's solution to the difficulties in which they find themselves has been "disingenuous to say the least."
"They seem to have bottled it on the spot and, obviously to compromise, they have said you can hold the fight anywhere in the world that you want except in Britain."
Warren was also displeased with the line taken by the sports governing body in Britain. He said "The situation is farcical. I was under the impression that the criteria for determining whether a licence should be granted is one, whether a boxer is medically fit and two, whether the fighters are suitable for each other and it is not a mismatch.
"How can the Board possibly refuse to allow Joe to fight in the UK on the grounds that he is too old etc, but allow the exact same fight to take place in Ireland."
Warren had originally intended to include the fight on March 16th in Glasgow in a bill which Sky Sports are using to build up to their pay per view promotion of the Bruno Tyson fight in Las Vegas.
Bringing the bout forward to Millstreet has not been ruled out, however although a final decision is not expected to be forth coming until the middle of next week.
