THE boxing world has been stunned by a “never seen before” one second disqualification when a heavyweight fighter made a bizarre storm off.
27.08.2018
THE boxing world has been stunned by a “never seen before” one second disqualification when a heavyweight fighter made a bizarre storm off.
AMERICAN boxer Curtis Harper’s bizarre storm off less than one second into his heavyweight fight with Efe Ajagba has stunned commentators around the world.
Fighting on the undercard of a PBC fight night on Fox Sports 1 (America), Harper made a bizarre decision to walk out of the ring as soon as the bell sounded to signal the start of the first round.
The Jacksonville fighter then continued walking back up the ramp through the crowd to the change rooms as the entire Minneapolis Armory crowd erupted in boos.
Harper gave no indication during his walk in or during the referees’ pre-fight address that anything was amiss. It made his scurry from the ring all the more perplexing.
The 30-year-old’s walk off left Ajagba stunned on the other side of the ring, as the referee and officials screamed for Harper to come back to the ring.
He simply kept on walking, leaving commentators stunned.
“I have never seen this before,” a Fox Sports commentator said.
“He walked out of the ring. He’s not fighting this guy. I’ve never seen this before in my life.”
It was revealed after the fight that Harper walked off as a ill-conceived protest of sorts surrounding his belief that he was being underpaid for the fight.
He told PBC reporter Jordan Hardy that he walked out after officials refused to budge on his pay packet.
Harper’s trainer Nate Campbell took to Facebook after the fight to apologise to the crowd and the boxing community for his fighter’s poor judgment.
“This was madness,” Campbell wrote.
“I was so embarrassed! This man disrespected himself, his wife, the fans and me.”