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Sinan Samil Sam has been declared European heavyweight champion after being awarded a retrospective victory over Paolo Vidoz following their fight in Ankara earlier this month.
The contest had originally been declared a majority draw after two judges scored the fight even while a third had the Turk, who previously held the same title in 2003, two points ahead.
However the scoring caused controversy when it was revealed judge Robin Dolpierre had altered his original score for a drawn final round, to 10-9 in favour of Vidoz.
The European Boxing Union on Wednesday announced Dolpierre had admitted his error and confirmed his original scoring, thus granting victory to Sam. The new champion has been ordered to grant Vidoz a rematch within 90 days.
Although many neutral observers believed Vidoz had done enough to win, Sam said on Wednesday: "I knew I won the fight and I was very disappointed when the draw was announced. All that counts is that justice won in the end."
The contest had originally been declared a majority draw after two judges scored the fight even while a third had the Turk, who previously held the same title in 2003, two points ahead.
However the scoring caused controversy when it was revealed judge Robin Dolpierre had altered his original score for a drawn final round, to 10-9 in favour of Vidoz.
The European Boxing Union on Wednesday announced Dolpierre had admitted his error and confirmed his original scoring, thus granting victory to Sam. The new champion has been ordered to grant Vidoz a rematch within 90 days.
Although many neutral observers believed Vidoz had done enough to win, Sam said on Wednesday: "I knew I won the fight and I was very disappointed when the draw was announced. All that counts is that justice won in the end."
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