Gully Powar suffers first loss after controversial second round decision
Wolverhampton fighter Gully Powar suffered the first loss of his professional career after being controversially denied a knockdown in his Saudi Arabian scrap.
The 22-year-old took on Brandon Mejia Mosqueda at Riyadh’s Grand Theater in the last-16 of the WBC Grand Prix and was knocked down himself by the Mexican in the first round.
Powar fought back in their featherweight bout and seemed to clip Mosqueda with a left hook in the second round that left his opponent tumbling forward onto his knees.
But as Powar protested in the ring that he had knocked down Mosqueda, the officials judged it as a slip and denied Powar what would have been an important knockdown as the two fighters eventually headed to a points decision after six rounds.
The Wolverhampton fighter was judged to have lost the bout with one scorecard of 59-54 and two at 60-53.
A frustrated Powar has since taken to social media, insisting that the knockdown should have counted and his performance deserved better than the wide points defeat.
"To all the people that supported me, this is boxing and I came up short," he said.
"Personally, I had a knockdown. He knocked me down, I faced adversity and came back like a true champion.
"I knocked him down in the second and they didn't score it.
"Personally, I thought I won the last three rounds with the jab, he was missing, but this is boxing and there's no excuses.
"We just move forward, I'm still a world champion in the making.
"The scorecards were wild but I'll be back in the gym next week. Shout out to everyone and love to you all."
In a separate post, he added: "I've shown the world that I'm a future world champion."
After recovering from that early setback, Powar enjoyed some strong rounds later in the fight.
In round five he made Mosqueda miss before responding with a swift combination that started with his jab and was followed by a nasty right hand, before he then began working the body.
In the final round, Powar had his Mexican opponent on the back foot before he was hit by one final right hand as the fight came to an end.
Mosqueda had won all night of his previous fights by stoppage, but Powar took him the distance in a fight that he was starting to take control of and may have won if it was longer than six rounds.
