British boxing pundit Steve Bunce believes Joseph Parker was hard by in his unanimous-points loss to Dillian Whyte at the O2 Arena on Sunday.
The Kiwi heavyweight was on the wrong end of the judges' scorecards, going down 113-111, 115-110, 114-111, but according to Bunce, the people closest to the action had it much closer.
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Speaking to Andrew Gourdie and Jim Kayes on RadioLIVE, he blasted their ruling and believed Parker could count himself unlucky to not have his hand raised in victory.
"I thought Joseph Parker deserved the draw. I think Joseph Parker could have got the decision, it was tight.
"At ringside, an awful load of press had had it very, very tight, and I wouldn't have screamed or complained had the decision gone to Parker," Bunce said.
"I thought two of the scores were too wide, but at the same time, Parker could have done a bit more. It was clear Dillian Whyte was exhausted, fighting on hearts and guts from about Round Eight or Nine.
"I didn't speak to anyone ringside that thought Dillian Whyte was the winner by four or five rounds."
It's Parker's second straight defeat, after his loss to world champion Anthony Joshua in April.
Bunce credited the Kiwi for taking the fight with Whyte and slammed any notion that he's hurt his reputation in defeat.
"Dillian Whyte is now a massive star in the UK and Joseph Parker just pushed him, dropped him with 35 seconds to go and Dillian Whyte had no idea where he was. That fight could have been stopped in other places, the referee faffed around for an awful long time, before he let it continue.
"If Joseph Parker had fought somebody in New Zealand, a guy in the top 20, it would be an easy win and Joseph Parker would have eventually got a world-title fight next year. He took a massive risk, it didn't pay off, but he needs to be applauded for fighting a guy like him."
While those ringside thought the fight was close, the UK Sky Sports play-by-play announcers were criticised for their seemingly biased commentating, with fighter Tony Bellew singled out.
Bunce has called for consistency in the future.
"How do you rip into a guy for 12 rounds and then when it's over, say 'I'm not sure who won it? Don't ask me I'm going to sit on the fence’.
“That seems to be like a contradiction in terms."
Newshub.
