I RECEIVED the news of veteran referee John Shipanuka’s selection to officiateWorld Boxing Council (WBC) and African Boxing Union (ABU) title fights as ajudge with a sense of great excitement.
It isn’t often we hear this kind of news and I congratulate Shipanuka who hasjoined his soccer counterpart Janny Sikazwe to officiate world-class events. Theseachievements speak volumes about the quality of the two men and the pride andhonour they have brought to Zambia.
As Shipanuka awaits assignments at his elevated roles, however, I thought ofrefreshing his mind about the onerous responsibility on his shoulders so that hedoes not go to disgrace Zambia with his judging. Not that he has been a badjudge, not at all, but boxing is full of controversial judges’ decisions.
We have seen situations where a technically superior boxer was given theshort end of the stick by either one judge or all of the judges depending on theirscoring sparking controversy. The job of a boxing judge is quite tough and it callsfor high integrity,objectivity and impartiality. Read more
