Boxer Skipp Scott files formal protest with California Boxing Commission after controversial loss to Washington

Promoter Kerry Daigle of Keeppunching Entertainment has filed a formal protest with the California Boxing Commission demanding to correct what he claims is a mistake made by referee Lou Moret that caused his boxer, Skipp Scott, to endure a knockout loss to opponent Gerald Washington Thursday night in Indio.

The controversy arose when Washington nailed Scott with a clean shot that forced him to take a knee, a legal knockdown.  However, immediately after Scott went to a knee, Washington followed up with a hard body shot that caused further damage and rendered Scott unable to beat the count.

The body shot was a "bang-bang" type of act that veteran referee Lou Moret apparently did not see (to view, go to 7:55 mark on the video above).

"It was definitely a foul," said Scott's trainer, Jessie Reid. "Skipp went down, but was not seriously hurt. He got hit with a right and was on all fours. And then he got hit with a right hook to the body while he was clearly on the canvas. That's a foul. The referee, Lou Moret, told us before the fight if someone is hit while they're on the ground, the fighter who does it will be disqualified or have points taken away. I know refs make mistakes, but the California Commission must step in and do the right thing here. They should disqualify Washington. That's what I'd like to see them do."

Daigle, a long-time boxing man in the Louisiana area, made things even more interesting by making statements about the politics and power brokers involved in the sweet science, specifically, manager Al Haymon.

"Washington is with Al Haymon and he's a very powerful man," said Daigle.  "I understand how hard it can be to go against the powerful forces in boxing, but this is such a clear case of an honest referee making a mistake that the commission has to step in and rectify the situation. We'll fight Washington again right away. We're not looking to duck him. We would like to see a clear winner between these two as much as anyone else. But these fighters work so hard and to hand Skipp a loss in a circumstance like this isn't fair. We are confident the California Commission will recognize this."

Reid said after the fight, he approached referee Moret and took some unusual steps in making his fighter's case.

"I told Lou Moret after the fight that he made a mistake," said Reid.  "He said he thought Washington was already in the action of throwing the last punch while Scott was going down. I told him he missed the shot while Scott was already down. I told him he should have at least taken points and given Skipp five minutes to recover from the illegal blow. Then I walked him over to the TV announcers and they all told him he made a mistake. Then I walked him to each judge. And judge told him he missed it. I've never seen anything like this before. It was definitely a big mistake. My fighter should not have a loss on his record because of this mistake."

By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services