Boxing judge Gloria Martinez Rizzo was heavily criticized for the way she scored Saturday night’s interim welterweight title fight between Mykal Fox and Gabriel Maestre. After the bout, some racist tweets she allegedly sent a while back went viral. Rizzo has been suspended as a result.
WBA president Gilberto Mendoza 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.
Rizzo faced tremendous backlash when she scored Saturday’s fight 117-110 in favor of Maestre. Most viewers felt Fox won the fight, but Maestre won by unanimous decision. Rizzo’s scorecard was the most lopsided, as 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. She referred to former first lady Michelle Obama as “monkey face” in one of them. In another, she told LeBron James to stick to basketball or “go back to the stable.”
THREAD: Here is a selection of racist tweets from Gloria Martinez Rizzo, the judge who scored tonight’s fight between Gabriel Maestre and Mykal Fox 117-110 for Maestre.
She also seems to have a physical attraction to Trump, and disputed election results before joining Parler. pic.twitter.com/JwvGbYBkbF
— Corey Erdman (@corey_erdman) August 8, 2021
Fox told ESPN he was “a little surprised” by Rizzo’s tweets. He said he can’t help but wonder now if her views on life would impact the way she does her job.
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. Mendoza said he is determined to hire new judges for boxing and wants to “step away from the boxing circle” to find them.
