“Why does a dog wag its tail? Because it is smarter than the tail. If the tail were smarter, it would wag the dog.”

On May 13^th, Remy Bonjasky won a majority decision over Jerome LeBanner. Two judges declared him the winner (29-28) and one called the fight a draw (29-29). LeBanner was upset with the decision and got an immediate assurance from FEG Producer Tanikawa that the decision would be reversed. LeBanner’s team pushed hard to get just that. They posted the “Official Reversal” on the LeBanner website immediately. Jerome himself delivered an ultimatum to the K-1 that forced the promotional company to reverse the decision or never promote another JLB fight.

On June 1^st, a document surfaced. It was apparently from the K-1 bigwigs Nobuaki Kakuda and Atsushi Onari. The document detailed the review of the judges’ scores that took place in the K-1 back offices (likely on orders from Tanikawa). Their conclusion was to reverse the judges’ decisions and declare Jerome the winner of the fight. On June 30^th 2006, the K-1 posted the Japanese version of the document on their official website.

How official is it? The event is not purely a K-1 event. It’s Showtime was also a partner in the promotion. They will also have a legal say in the appeal process. Most importantly, however, is the Dutch government. The event took place on their soil and their laws are certainly in effect. The CKO has, in good faith, made the ranking adjustments according to the K-1 announcement. It would be a huge blow to the K-1 credibility to announce an overturned decision yet make no move to follow through with the Dutch sports ministry, creating 2 different official results.

No matter, what LeBanner has accomplished is nothing short of dog-wagging.

The story starts with the match up. Jerome has been the K-1 poster boy since he stopped Peter Aerts in 1999. Since then he has always been a favorite to take the Grand Prix title year after year… with good reason. His high impact strikes send doctors scrambling to the ring. In 2005, the K-1 Grand Prix promotional engine made no effort to conceal its preference for Jerome to take the title. To their shock, the least popular fighter, soft spoken Sem Schilt, took the title. The K-1 response was to label Jerome the “Uncrowned Champion”. The Bonjasky-LeBanner match up put Bonjasky in the blue corner and LeBanner in the red corner. It is a tradition in ring sports to bring the champion or more accomplished fighter out of the red corner (outside tournaments, of course). Remy has won 2 K-1 Grand Prix titles and boasts a 7-1 record in the tournament. Jerome has won no titles and has managed a 5-6 record.

Here are the judges scorecards for the May 13^th bout.

Rounds 1 and 2 which were originally scored for Remy were changed to 10 – 10 rounds. This is especially interesting because the appeals process didn’t provide an alternative to the draw. There are two schools of thought regarding scoring a round a draw. Some see it as a decision while others see it as indecision. In the former case, the judge observes the round and determines that both fighters gave an equal performance. In the latter case, the judge observes the round and is unable to decide on a winner. In many kickboxing circles, indecision is strongly shunned. Judges are therefore either encouraged or even commanded to choose a victor for each round.

Insiders and outsiders alike recognize this as the opening of a can of worms.

Worm 1
Can we trust the appeal system any more than the on site judges?

Worm 2
Will the K-1 fall to pressure beyond star fighters? They have blackballed ex Kyokushin fighters Peter Graham, Ryuta Noji and Nick Pettas due to pressure from the karate organization. Will they reverse decisions to satisfy these people too?

Worm 3
Are judges now encouraged to be indecisive? The appeal didn’t show Jerome winning the rounds that were given to Remy. Instead, they were overturned to create a draw after 2 rounds. Will this create reluctance in judges to pick a winner for each round?

Worm 4
Will all cases be reviewed? Many fighters who have obviously lost still feel that they have won. What about marginal cases? Who decides if a bout comes under review?

Worm 5
Will the appeals process also reverse bad calls by referees? An incorrect down? An incorrect slip?

Worm 6
Will whole fights be appealed or will fighters be able to appeal single rounds?

Worm 7
Will fights that end in draws all be appealed to determine a winner?

Worm 8
Will a less popular fighter be able to appeal a loss to a more popular fighter?

Worm 10
Will a premature stoppage be appealed?

Worm 11
Will a DQ loss be appealed?

Worm 12
Will a Grand Prix Championship be appealed?

Worm 13
Will individual fights in the tournament be appealed? For instance, if the semi final loser felt he had won and that errors were made by the judges, would that fight be appealed?

Worm 14
Will the following statement be commonplace among losers in the post fight interview?  “The decision was unfortunate. We will see how the appeals process goes.”

Worm 15
Will the following statement be commonplace among winners in the post fight interview?  “I won. I know it. The judges know it. The fans know it. When the appeals committee reviews it, they will know it too.”

Worm 16
Will a fighter strategically refuse to fight an extension round if he feels the appeals committee will give him a 3-round victory?

Worm 17
Will the K-1 keep records that are different than the ones they submitted to athletic commissions and ministries in other countries? Are the K-1 records for the LeBanner-Bonjasky different from those filed with the Dutch Sports Ministry? re there 2 sets of official results?

Worm 18
Will "Win by APPEAL" be a stain on a fighters record? Jerome did not defeat Remy by unanimous decision, split decision or majority decision. It is not a decision victory at all. The results of the victory came 6 weeks after the event.

Conclusion

One sad result of this is that the K-1 promised to increase the quality of the on site judging. It is sad because it has only been a year and a half since the last time they made the same promise. The worst result is that the K-1 lacked the foresight to realize that they don’t have the ability to operate an appeals system uniformly. Two weeks after the LeBanner fiasco, Sem Schilt lost a terrible decision to Hong Man Choi by a far wider margin of error and was refused a decision appeal.