Gloria Martinez Rizzo is a highly esteemed judge for the WBA having won the 2019 Female Judge of the Year award, has been suspended over a controversial scorecard in a recent bout and had some old tweets resurface the were racist towards former first lady Michelle Obama and LeBron James.
In a fight last Saturday, while the other judges scored the fight between Mykal Fox and Gabriel Maestre a near-unanimous opinion for Fox, Maestre was awarded a unanimous decision victory. Rizzo turned in a baffling 117-110 card in favor of Maestre. The other two judges scored the fight 115-112 and 114-113.
Rizzo gained more attention after some past racist tweets resurfaced what showcased her love of Donald Trump, and calls Michelle Obama a ‘monkey face’. WBA president Gilberto Mendoza spoke to ESPN’s Mike Coppinger on Wednesday that Rizzo has been suspended for six months and could be axed as a judge permanently for any WBA sanctioned events.
“We saw her score was wrong despite the unanimous decision,” said Mendoza. “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.”
Great part on Mendoza for acting on this quickly and it is more than likely you will never see Martinez Rizzo judge another WBA bout. Boxing has had a history of corrupt judges and honestly, the tweets were just the nail in the coffin.
Mendoza has ordered an immediate rematch between Maestre and Fox. He told Coppinger there will be no champion’s advantage and that the title will be vacated if the bout ends in a draw.
Flip the page to view Rizzo’s disgusting tweets and showing her allegiance to former President Donald Trump.