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Boxing referee punched in the face during Keyshawn Davis fight as fans gasp ‘how was he not deducted a point?’
A BOXING referee was on the receiving end of a nasty punch during a bout in New Jersey on Saturday night.
The shock incident occurred during a fight between Keyshawn Davis and Miguel Madueno at the Prudential Center in Newark.
Davis and Madueno fought until the whistle at the end of the sixth round - and then beyond it.
The pair went eyeball to eyeball with referee David Franciosi forced to intervene and pull them apart.
But, as he did, he received an inadvertent shot to the face from Madueno.
The official was clearly rocked by the incident as he stumbled backwards.
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Both fighters eventually retreated to their respective corners after the clash.
The referee was heard on the live ESPN television feed asking Madueno's corner "who the f*** just hit me?"
Commentators then speculated whether Madueno would be disqualified for the incident.
And one fan said on X, formerly known as Twitter, "Why the ref didn’t take a point for getting b***h slapped is crazy to me!"
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Madueno was allowed to continue the bout unpunished, to the surprise of many.
But he fell to a unanimous points defeat in the 10-round lightweight contest.
All three judges scored it 99-91 to the winner Davis.
The 25-year-old from Norfolk, Virginia, improved his record to 11 wins from 11 bouts with seven KOs.
Mexican-born Madueno, meanwhile, also 25, fell to a 31-3 record with his latest defeat.
“We were both tough in there, and neither of our wills got broke,” Davis said.
“He’s a rough type of a guy, a real physical type of guy.
"We were doing a lot of rough tactics in there, just trying to get under each other’s skin.”
Davis is a silver medalist in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games.
He is ranked No. 3 at his weight by the WBC, WBO and IBF.
“I know Denys Berinchyk (WBO champion) mentioned my name. I’m definitely targeting Berinchyk,” Davis confirmed.
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The fight appeared on the undercard of Shakur Stevenson's bout with Artem Harutyunyan.
Stevenson retained his WBC lightweight title with a unanimous points win in the main event Saturday night.