By Keith Idec
Mike Borao and Jameel McCline couldn’t believe what they were told when an official from the Virginia Boxing & Wrestling Commission came to Matt Korobov’s locker room Saturday night.
Korobov’s co-managers made a bee line for ringside once they learned that the result of Korobov’s bout with Immanuwel Aleem had been changed from a majority-decision victory for Korobov to a majority draw. The best explanation anyone from Virginia’s commission could give them was that they made a mathematical mistake while adding up the scores following a 10-round middleweight match Korobov seemingly won.
Jimmy Lennon Jr. announced that the Russian-born Korobov beat Aleem on the scorecards of judges Dorothea Perry (97-93) and Mark D’Attilio (96-95). Judge Brian Costello scored their 10-rounder even (95-95).
It was later revealed during FOX’s broadcast from Fairfax, Virginia, that D’Attilio actually scored it 95-95. That change rendered their fight a majority draw.
“It’s very difficult to beat a young, determined opponent and incompetent officials,” Borao told BoxingScene.com. “I didn’t watch a replay yet, but it looked like they missed a knockdown early [for Korobov]. And Matt clearly won the first six, seven rounds, in my opinion. PBC and FOX have been great to Korobov, and I don’t think that’ll change based on this result being changed. Matt will be back on FOX in no time, hopefully in another world title fight. Matt has earned a big payday.”
CompuBox credited Korobov with landing 35 more punches overall than Aleem (154-of-417 to 119-of-630). Korobov also hurt Aleem badly by landing a left hand in the sixth round at EagleBank Arena, on the campus of George Mason University.
The 36-year-old Korobov (28-2-1, 14 KOs) couldn’t capitalize on hurting Aleem (18-1-2, 11 KOs). The 25-year-old Aleem, of Richmond, Virginia, recovered and gained momentum in the later rounds as Korobov clearly tired.
His draw with Aleem marked the second straight FOX fight that didn’t go Korobov’s way.
Korobov was very competitive with WBC interim middleweight champ Jermall Charlo in their December 22 bout at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Judge Larry Hazzard Jr. somehow scored that 12-rounder 119-108 for Houston’s Charlo (28-0, 21 KOs), who won by the same score, 116-112, on the cards of Max DeLuca and Steve Weisfeld.
Korobov took the Charlo fight on only six days’ notice, once Charlo’s original opponent, Willie Monroe Jr., failed a test for a performance-enhancing drug.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
