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Article: Should Ian John-Lewis be suspended for poor officiating?
Ian John-Lewis
http://www.weirdboxing.info/1/post/2...ohn-lewis.html
http://www.weirdboxing.info/1/post/2...ohn-lewis.html
A number of officials in our great sport really make a mockery of things and one of those is British judge and referee Ian John-Lewis. Lewis, a "Star Class" referee is seen by the powers that be, as one of Britain's top officials, something that strikes me as a real mystery.
Born in Gillingham, Kent, John-Lewis used to be a professional fighter, running up a less than spectacular professional record of 14-6 (9) between 1987 and 1992. As a fighter Lewis wasn't the most durable being stopped 5 times in his 6 losses.
After retiring from fighting himself, John-Lewis soon found his way back on to the boxing circuit as he began his career as an official, officiating as a referee as early as 1993, not much more than a year after he'd retired from being an active fighter. After refereeing numerous small level bouts, John-Lewis would soon begin to act as a judge as well.
Early on it was hard to complain about the work Ian John-Lewis was doing and he was rightfully being moved on to more and more meaningful bouts. He was starting to look like a really, really promising young official, in fact had someone wanted to describe him as the best in Britain few would have argued.
Sadly things started to take a turn for the worst in 2007 when Ian John-Lewis' card of 95-95 in the Simona Galassi v Nadia Hokmi bout cost Hokmi the EBU Female Flyweight title. Although the bout was a pretty low profile one, it irked many who felt the visiting French fighter had been shafted (excuse the wording) out of the European title by the scoring of both John-Lewis and Francisco Vazquez Marcos against her Italian opponent. Since then however he has been involved in several controversies.
In 2008 Matthew Marsh won a close and very competitive bout with Esham Pickering. The bout was separated by little more than a round on the other 2 scores cards (116-113, 115-113) yet in the eyes of John-Lewis he thought it was a very one-sided bout scoring it 117-111 to Marsh. Yes the other judges saw it, like most, to be a close bout, yet John-Lewis had it 9 rounds to 3! John-Lewis' scoring was again called in to question just months later when he was again a judge at a Matthew Marsh fight, when he went the opposite way and scored a draw in a bout the other two judges saw as a Marsh win.
Despite his issues in 2008, John-Lewis had a generally good 2009, though sadly things then suddenly started to get worse. In late 2010 John-Lewis scored the first Stephen Smith v John Simpson bout as a very easy looking win for Smith (116-112) in a bout many had Simpson winning.
The same year he almost saw Shannon Briggs beaten to death by Vitali Klitschko whilst looking on as the referee, he seemed almost clueless as to how badly Briggs was being beaten despite the fact he was doing nothing other than becoming a punch bag.
Just months later John-Lewis was embroiled in a high profile scoring "**** up" as he scored Joe Ainscough v Wayne Reed 30-28 despite Ainscough being dropped in round 3, a round he must have scored 10-10 despite the knockdown! The mistake in the Ainscough v Reed fight should really have been something that was punished. Instead however John-Lewis was given another chance to mess up as he gifted (literally gifted) Tom Dallas a victory over Zack Page as a scoring referee.
Just days after helping Dallas to victory over Page, he was sent over to Canada to be the referee of Jean Pascal v Bernard Hopkins II, a fight that he simply wasn't suitable for. Hopkins' literally broke the rules at will with out punishment whilst touchdowns, by both men, weren't met by wiping of the gloves. This bout alone showed that Ian John-Lewis didn't belong in a major world title bout with an iconic fighter as he often looked in awe at Hopkins' piss taking.
Sadly John-Lewis' scoring and officiating didn't swiftly improve and later in 2011 we saw him horribly scoring Leon Williams over Rob Norton by a score of 116-113, and some how (really mystifyingly) scoring Lee Purdy v Colin Lynes as a draw in a bout that Lynes clearly won (I think I had it 119-111). The scoring here really should have seen him pulled up in front of the board but instead it appears that nothing was done or asked about him.
Thankfully for us as fans John-Lewis' scoring hasn't been too questionable this year, however his refereeing has been relatively hapless. Not only did he effectively allow Jody Meikle to foul (a clear headbutt in the opening round) against Lian Shinkwin, but he also stupidly stopped Enzo Maccarinelli over Ovill McKenzie in a decision that really should have been the final straw.
Whilst some are willing to give extra chances (including those in charge at the BBBOfC) I've had enough and will refuse to accept Ian John-Lewis as a credible official. His track record in recent years is disgusting and the guy simply needs retraining and soon, before he gets to ruin any more fights!
Born in Gillingham, Kent, John-Lewis used to be a professional fighter, running up a less than spectacular professional record of 14-6 (9) between 1987 and 1992. As a fighter Lewis wasn't the most durable being stopped 5 times in his 6 losses.
After retiring from fighting himself, John-Lewis soon found his way back on to the boxing circuit as he began his career as an official, officiating as a referee as early as 1993, not much more than a year after he'd retired from being an active fighter. After refereeing numerous small level bouts, John-Lewis would soon begin to act as a judge as well.
Early on it was hard to complain about the work Ian John-Lewis was doing and he was rightfully being moved on to more and more meaningful bouts. He was starting to look like a really, really promising young official, in fact had someone wanted to describe him as the best in Britain few would have argued.
Sadly things started to take a turn for the worst in 2007 when Ian John-Lewis' card of 95-95 in the Simona Galassi v Nadia Hokmi bout cost Hokmi the EBU Female Flyweight title. Although the bout was a pretty low profile one, it irked many who felt the visiting French fighter had been shafted (excuse the wording) out of the European title by the scoring of both John-Lewis and Francisco Vazquez Marcos against her Italian opponent. Since then however he has been involved in several controversies.
In 2008 Matthew Marsh won a close and very competitive bout with Esham Pickering. The bout was separated by little more than a round on the other 2 scores cards (116-113, 115-113) yet in the eyes of John-Lewis he thought it was a very one-sided bout scoring it 117-111 to Marsh. Yes the other judges saw it, like most, to be a close bout, yet John-Lewis had it 9 rounds to 3! John-Lewis' scoring was again called in to question just months later when he was again a judge at a Matthew Marsh fight, when he went the opposite way and scored a draw in a bout the other two judges saw as a Marsh win.
Despite his issues in 2008, John-Lewis had a generally good 2009, though sadly things then suddenly started to get worse. In late 2010 John-Lewis scored the first Stephen Smith v John Simpson bout as a very easy looking win for Smith (116-112) in a bout many had Simpson winning.
The same year he almost saw Shannon Briggs beaten to death by Vitali Klitschko whilst looking on as the referee, he seemed almost clueless as to how badly Briggs was being beaten despite the fact he was doing nothing other than becoming a punch bag.
Just months later John-Lewis was embroiled in a high profile scoring "**** up" as he scored Joe Ainscough v Wayne Reed 30-28 despite Ainscough being dropped in round 3, a round he must have scored 10-10 despite the knockdown! The mistake in the Ainscough v Reed fight should really have been something that was punished. Instead however John-Lewis was given another chance to mess up as he gifted (literally gifted) Tom Dallas a victory over Zack Page as a scoring referee.
Just days after helping Dallas to victory over Page, he was sent over to Canada to be the referee of Jean Pascal v Bernard Hopkins II, a fight that he simply wasn't suitable for. Hopkins' literally broke the rules at will with out punishment whilst touchdowns, by both men, weren't met by wiping of the gloves. This bout alone showed that Ian John-Lewis didn't belong in a major world title bout with an iconic fighter as he often looked in awe at Hopkins' piss taking.
Sadly John-Lewis' scoring and officiating didn't swiftly improve and later in 2011 we saw him horribly scoring Leon Williams over Rob Norton by a score of 116-113, and some how (really mystifyingly) scoring Lee Purdy v Colin Lynes as a draw in a bout that Lynes clearly won (I think I had it 119-111). The scoring here really should have seen him pulled up in front of the board but instead it appears that nothing was done or asked about him.
Thankfully for us as fans John-Lewis' scoring hasn't been too questionable this year, however his refereeing has been relatively hapless. Not only did he effectively allow Jody Meikle to foul (a clear headbutt in the opening round) against Lian Shinkwin, but he also stupidly stopped Enzo Maccarinelli over Ovill McKenzie in a decision that really should have been the final straw.
Whilst some are willing to give extra chances (including those in charge at the BBBOfC) I've had enough and will refuse to accept Ian John-Lewis as a credible official. His track record in recent years is disgusting and the guy simply needs retraining and soon, before he gets to ruin any more fights!
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