Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions is having a busy week — and this time it's not about matchmaking, it's about math.
MVP issued a formal statement on Monday challenging the result of Floyd Schofield's WBA lightweight title win over Lucas Bahdi in Chicago on October 10. Schofield won a unanimous decision — 115-111, 116-110, 119-108 on the judges' scorecards — but MVP says the referee missed three knockdowns: Schofield hit the canvas in the third, sixth, and ninth rounds after tangling with Bahdi, and none were ruled as knockdowns.
"The video evidence demonstrates multiple significant officiating errors that directly impacted the outcome of the fight," MVP's statement read. "Our review shows that had these knockdowns been properly ruled and scored, Lucas would have won the WBA lightweight world championship by majority decision. We have a responsibility to advocate for our fighters, especially when a world championship is at stake."
Bahdi fights for MVP. Schofield is promoted by Golden Boy. The WBA has a protest process for exactly this kind of dispute — and MVP is using it, publicly and loudly. Neither Golden Boy Promotions nor the WBA responded to requests for comment when Reuters reported the story on October 19.
Here's the context that makes this bigger than one bad call. A knockdown changes a 10-9 round into a 10-8. Three uncalled knockdowns is potentially a six-point swing — and on the closest card (115-111), that's the whole fight. MVP's math says Bahdi would have taken the belt by majority decision. Whether the WBA agrees is a separate question; sanctioning bodies overturn results about as often as judges change their minds mid-fight. But the footage is the footage, and in the age of instant replay, "the ref didn't see it" is a weaker excuse every year.
The DAOS take: three times a man hits the floor in a title fight and the ref calls it nothing — that's not a judgment call, that's a pattern. And here's the part that should make every boxing fan lean in: MVP is building a track record of fighting for its fighters after the bell rings. Yesterday it was Stevenson's freedom; today it's Bahdi's belt. Love or hate Jake Paul the boxer, MVP the promoter is doing what promoters are supposed to do. If the WBA won't review video that shows three knockdowns, then what exactly is the protest process for?
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Sources: Reuters · KTWB · Mix 92.9
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