WINDHOEK – Prominent South African boxing judge-cum-referee Jaap van Nieuwenhuizen claimed to have been verbally and physically abused by defeated boxer Cassius Baloyi and his stable mates, minutes after his majority decision loss against Paulus ‘the Hitman’ Moses.

Judge van Nieuwenhuizen reliably informed New Era Sports that Baloyi’s stable was not wholly impressed with the score-card, which read 94-96 (Moses), 96-94 (Baloyi) and (93-97) Moses – that handed Moses the victory.

The visibly shaken and popular veteran South African judge said Baloyi personally confronted him with a tirade of insults before he allegedly punched him on the chest a couple of times in the aftermath of Saturday’s boxing bonanza at the Ramatex Hall in the capital.

“ They (Baloyi’s stable mates) were accusing me of having played a part in his defeat against Moses - saying I was maybe watching a different fight because the score-cards were totally one-sided. After a long heated debate, he (Baloyi) started throwing insults at me and pushed me around, before he unleashed a few punches at me chest,” revealed the clearly shell-shocked van Nieuwenhuizen.

“Any judge would have scored exactly the same points, so I don’t really understand what they meant when they claimed I’m was partly to blame for the defeat or maybe given that we are all South Africans, perhaps they were expecting the decision to go their way,” offered the South African judge.

Promoter Nestor Tobias confirmed the incident saying that he was reliably informed about the nasty incident and immediately took it up with the Namibian Boxing Control Board (NBCB). He added that such behaviour will not be tolerated and a decision has been taken not to work with Baloyi’s stable anymore.

“The WBO was solely responsible for the appointment of judges and those who were present at Saturday’s event are fully accredited international judges. So, I don’t know why they want to victimize van Nieuwenhuizen. Baloyi is a former world champion and a well-respected boxer, so I’m gravely disappointed to hear such allegations being linked to a boxer of his caliber,” charged Tobias