Gloria Martinez Rizzo, who was named 2019 Female Judge of the Year by the WBA, turned in a bizarre scorecard for this past Saturday’s bout between Mykal Fox and Gabriel Maestre, but that wasn’t even the most controversial thing about her this week.
Rizzo remained in the spotlight as past racist tweets came to light soon after. Now, the WBA has said they are suspending Rizzo over the situation, according to association president Gilberto Mendoza, who told ESPN’s Mike Coppinger on Wednesday that Rizzo has been suspended for six months and could be banned from judging fights sanctioned by the WBA.
Despite near-unanimous opinion that Fox deserved the win in the interim WBA welterweight championship fight, Maestre was awarded a unanimous decision victory. Rizzo turned in a baffling 117-110 card in favor of Maestre. The other two judges scored the fight 115-112 and 114-113.
“We saw her score was wrong despite the unanimous decision,” said Mendoza. “Those comments she made in the past — she might be expelled by the WBA. I don’t support any kind of racism. I believe in equality.”
You can see some of Rizzo’s past tweets below.
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Mendoza has ordered an immediate rematch between Maestre and Fox. He told Coppinger there will be no champion’s advantage and that the title will be vacated if the bout ends in a draw.
