Junior Binnu Singh’s split decision victory over Varun Phaytal for the PBCNZ Super Bantamweight title has sparked controversy, with Phaytal and his team alleging bias and an unfair outcome.
The bout headlined the ZEG Boxing Promotion last Saturday at the Vodafone Arena in Suva which concluded the program in a dramatic fashion.
Through an interpreter, Phaytal expressed his frustration with both the fight and the result.
“He (Singh) was not landing any punchers, just look at my face — no bruises, only scratching and pushing. I was fighting and he was dancing around. This decision is not fair,” he said.
Vyas Dei Sharma, a major sponsor of the four Indian boxers featured in the event through his Khelvin Realtors business, confirmed they intend to challenge the decision with the relevant authorities.
“We cannot do anything about the decision now, but his opinion needs to be considered,” he said.
“We will take this up with the relevant bodies so his opinion can be heard.”
The contest was a highly entertaining 10 rounds of three minutes each, showcasing a technical battle of will, endurance, and boxing IQ.
Singh dominated the early rounds, landing sharp counters and effective combinations while relying on his superior reflexes to evade most of Phaytal’s shots. However, in the second half of the fight, Phaytal increased the pace and began landing more significant blows on Singh.
This momentum continued into the later rounds, with Phaytal demonstrating incredible endurance, outworking Singh for much of the final stages. Despite the controversy, Singh believes he did enough to secure the win and claim the vacant PBCNZ Super Bantamweight title.
“First of all, it was the ref’s and judges’ decision, and his punchers were not landing on me but on my guard, and I was parrying most of his punchers so that doesn’t count,” he explained.
“In boxing, only punches that land are counted, not the punchers that you were throwing, so it is what it is.”
Singh is open to a rematch to settle the dispute once and for all.
“I can fight him in a rematch anywhere, anytime,” he boldly stated.
