Ringside judges for the Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn rematch have been confirmed – with one of them involved in a major controversy just two weeks ago.
The sons of British boxing royalty collide again on Saturday night six months on from Eubank Jr’s victory in April at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
That night, Eubank Jr secured a clean sweep of the scorecards to win the fight via unanimous decision with all three judges – Mark Bates, Lee Every and Kieran McCann – posting 116-112 scores.
Howard Foster, John Latham, and Marcus McDonnell will be the judges in place at ringside on Saturday night to score the fight in north London.
McDonnell was one of three judges in place for the all-British light-heavyweight clash between Joshua Buatsi and Zach Parker in Manchester on 1 November.
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In a scrappy contest, the general consensus was Parker had done more than enough to secure an upset victory over the Croydon fighter, only to be left stunned when Buatsi was declared the winner via majority decision after 10 rounds of action.
McDonnell scored the fight 96-94 to Buatsi along with visiting judge Salvador Salva. Grzegorz Molenda scored it a 95-95 draw.
Among those perplexed by the decision was former world champion Carl Frampton on punditry duty, giving Buatsi just one round on his personal scorecard.
‘For someone like me, who has been around boxing all of my life, I cannot understand that decision,’ Frampton said during DAZN’s broadcast. ‘I gave Buatsi one round.’
An emotional Parker said after the fight: ‘Everyone’s got eyes, so they can see the fight. He can’t even a land a clean shot on me. I should be champion.
‘I am only in boxing to better my family’s life, so you’ll take it away from me is a joke.
‘I should be going on for bigger titles and bigger money fights. I’m trying to change my daughter’s life, and I get decisions like that.’
One of the other judges for Eubank vs Benn II, Howard Foster, is regarded as one of the best referees in British boxing but was also recently involved in a high-profile decision that divided opinion.
Foster was the referee for the heavyweight clash between Joseph Parker and Fabio Wardley in London on 25 October. The fight was halted in the 11th round with Wardley on the attack, landing at will on Parker who was on the ropes but still standing, handing the Briton a huge victory.
Foster’s decision to step in and wave off the fight was widely condemned on social media but Robert Smith, general secretary of the British Boxing Board of Control believed the decision was ‘bang on’ with no further investigation taking place.
Foster was also the referee who infamously stopped the first fight between Carl Froch and George Groves in 2013, handing victory to ‘The Cobra.’