WBA suspends boxing judge Gloria Martinez Rizzo after controversial scorecard, racist tweets

The World Boxing Association is suspending judge Gloria Martinez Rizzo for six months after a controversial scorecard in the Mykal Fox vs. Gabriel Maestre interim welterweight title fight Saturday and the discovery of racist tweets, president Gilberto Mendoza told ESPN on Wednesday.

Mendoza plans to meet with Rizzo in Miami this week to discuss the discipline, which could include expulsion from WBA-sanctioned fights. 

"We saw her score was wrong despite the unanimous decision," Mendoza told ESPN. "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. ...Sports are the only thing that brings equality into the world sometimes."

Rizzo turned in a 117-110 scorecard in the welterweight title fight on Saturday, sparking outrage. Fox, who scored a second-round knockdown, appeared to be the clear-cut winner in an upset. But Maestre was declared the winner by unanimous decision. The two other judges also controversially had Maestre winning. Judge John Mariano scored the fight 115-112, while judge David Singh turned in a 114-113 score. 

A since-deleted @GloriaRizz Twitter account was discovered after the fight and featured racist tweets from 2020, which included negative remarks about Michelle Obama and LeBron James. The same account was tagged by a WBA Boxing account in a December 2019 post honoring Rizzo as female judge of the year.

Fox has since called the fight a "robbery." Mendoza is trying to schedule a rematch between the two fighters.