Raymudo Beltran Screwed Out Of Title,”In The People’s Eyes I Am The True World Champion”

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Boxing and politics go together like peanut butter and jelly, milk and cereal, Bert and Ernie. Controversy has plagued the sport since who knows when. The mob used to control outcomes of fights and now politics and a lot of people in the background can determine the outcome of a fight.

That may have been what happened on September 7th in Scotland when Raymundo Beltran traveled around the globe to take on Ricky Burns for Burns WBO lightweight title.

Burns boxed well in the first round but throughout the fight he simply could not compete with Beltran. Burns would on occasion look good at times but Beltran would come back right after and put Burns in his place.

The fight was ruled a draw even though Beltran won at least 8-9 of the rounds and scored a knockdown.

In his post-fight interview, you could tell Beltran was filled with disappointment. He continuously hurt Burns and Burns was defensive for most of the fight.

“I just felt he was trying to be very defensive,” said Beltran. “I heard noise (from Burns) from the pain. He fought very well, very defensive. That’s it. I think I did everything I had to do to win the fight you know.”

Going into the fight many felt that Beltran would not be credited with a victory even if he scored a KO on Burns. Judging and politics is more than likely the reason why Burns was gifted the draw and Beltran was well aware of that.

“Politics. It’s always the same thing in boxing. They got some plans, there is money involved and it’s business. They have the opportunity to protect their own investment, they do it. I think it’s disrespectful for the fighter, for the fans and they just play with the business. They play with the business because they have the power.”

Being on the wrong side of the decision is nothing new to Beltran as he has been there in the past. In fact, many people just view him as a sparring partner to Manny Pacquiao and not a legitimate contender even though Beltran has proven that he is the real deal several times.

“My frustration is that if you win, if I got beat I got beat. I’ve been getting robbed every time, right and left. It’s just so frustrating because there is so much hard work , sacrifice. We put our life on the line you know? We fight for our family and all that. They don’t care they just protect their investment. It’s not his (Burns) fault, it’s business.”

Besides shady judges the referee was arguably on Burns side as Burns held excessively and was not given a warning and every little thing Beltran did he was warned about and Beltran recognizes that.

“The referee was terrible. He (Burns) was holding too much and he (the referee) wasn’t giving him (Burns) no warning or anything. Everything was against me like it always is.”

Though he was not given the victory, Beltran will be viewed by many as the champion. He in fact beat Burns no matter what the judges say. The announcers for the fight and many ringside who were in favor of burns felt Beltran won.

“To me, I’m a world champion. In the people’s eyes I am the true world champion. A draw is bullshit. You still keep the belt but that’s bullshit. That belt is mine. I’m the world champion now.”

So is a rematch necessary? Of course. After such controversy a rematch is needed and Beltran would like the rematch to take place in the U.S. because it is neutral territory. How is it neutral if Beltran lives there and there have been questionable calls? Easy. Even though he lives in the U.S. he is Mexican and not being considered one of the top fighters in the game there are no politics to ensure him the victory and he would have to earn it just how he did in Scotland.

“I’ll fight anybody but I want to fight in a fair place. I want to fight in America. Let’s do the fight in America, like I always do I go to everybody’s backyard. That’s been my boxing career my whole life I think I deserve a chance this time. Let’s go to America and let’s do the fight over there. I am the champion.”