Alaverdian Out of European Games

David Alaverdian lost by split decision to Attila Bernath of Hungary at the European Games in Krakow, Poland today. The close, competitive bout was marred by some curious judging.

Two days before his 30th birthday, Alaverdian (8-0-1 as a pro) was not given a fair shake against the 23 year old Bernath. Both guys switched stances as Alaverdian fought the first round at range. Bernath proved to be a good clever fighter who landed a number of sneaky shots on the inside in the first round. Four of the five judges scored the swing round for the Hungarian.

Bernath started the second round touching Alaverdian as the Israeli came forward. David finished the round connecting with big shots to the head. He also landed some hard left hooks to the body in the round. If this had been a pro fight, Alaverdian would've won the round on the judges' cards because he landed all of the harder blows. But Bernath won the round on each of the five judges' cards because he landed more clean punches, even though they were far less damaging.

Both competitors knew the score heading into the third, so Alaverdian stalked and fired away while Bernath literally ran to the far side of the ring on a couple of occasions. Bernath landed a few shots early, but Alaverdian managed to catch the Hungarian and repeatedly whack him with huge punches. Bernath was beaten up pretty badly in that last round.

Two judges gave the fight to Bernath 29-28 while one gave it to Alaverdian by the same score. The two other judges failed at their job. Maximo Abalos of the Philippines scored the third round for Bernath and gave the Hungarian the fight 30-27, which is an inconceivable score. He wasn't the worst offender, though.

Nagy Ismail Hamed Osman of Egypt should not only never judge another boxing match, he shouldn't even judge the prettiest Pomeranian at the Westminster Kennel Club. He turned in the worst scorecard in the history of The Jewish Boxing Blog's coverage, scoring the bout 30-25(!) for Bernath giving two(!) 10-8 rounds to the Hungarian. No other judge even had one round 10-8. After incomprehensibly calling the first two rounds 10-8, he somehow saw fit to give Bernath the third. Even if you had it 29-28 for Bernath, Osman was four points off in a three round fight! People this incompetent need to be thrown out of all levels of boxing.


Note: Israeli amateurs Daniel Ilyushonok and Yan Zan both advanced the round of 16. Twenty year old light heavyweight southpaw Ilyushonok punctuated an ugly fight with a beautiful right uppercut to score a third round KO over Altin Shala of Kosovo. In a big upset, Zak, a 23 year old heavyweight, beat Loren Alfonso Dominguez of Azerbaijan by spilt decision, 4-1. Alfonso Dominguez, a gold medalist at the '21 World Championships and bronze medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, was deducted two points in the second round for infractions, which ultimately cost him the bout. Ilyushonok and Zak fight on Monday in separate matches.