Boxing: Recount gives new chance to Brodie

Michael Brodie lost his fight for the vacant World Boxing Council featherweight title in the ring at the MEN Arena in Manchester on Saturday night, but 45 minutes after the decision was announced it was reversed and replaced by a draw.

After 12 rounds and a delay of nearly 15 minutes, South Korea's Injin Chi was awarded the points decision by a majority in a fight which should serve as a long overdue reminder of just how good real world title fights can be.

However, the WBC's president Jose Sulaiman continued to accept the lobbying and complaints of Brodie's management and promotional team and, after a 45-minute delay, the fight was declared a majority draw and the title vacant.

"It is all my fault," claimed Sulaiman. "I added up the scores wrong and when I realised my mistake, I changed the decision." It was Sulaiman who suspended the result of the Mike Tyson and Buster Douglas heavyweight fight in 1990, only to change his mind after a nasty backlash less than 24 hours later.

The problem on Saturday night was the scoring of the opening round when the Belgian referee Daniel Van de Wiele deducted a point from Brodie for ducking his head dangerously low after 10 seconds. Wiele subsequently admitted that the butt was not intentional yet the deduction remained and Sulaiman later claimed that he had taken away two points on the judges' master scoring card from one of the judge's scores.

Brodie fought for nearly 12 full rounds with blood coming from the gash. He survived a sickening knock down in round two and now he will get a rematch which, in an odd way, he deserves for his effort.