No matter how hard one tries, it will be difficult to sooth the anger and bitterness inside O’Shaquie Foster. Now-a former WBC super featherweight champion, he gave a dominant performance against Robson Conceicao. But only to lose the third title defense on scorecards. The judging has been severely criticized across the boxing world. Many notable figures in the sport expressed their anger online, condemning the scores handed down by two of the judges. Ryan Garcia has his own troubles to deal with. But as it appears, the outcome of what many have called a robbery’ wasn’t lost on him either.

As is his usual move, Garcia took to his X/Twitter handle to share his thoughts. Apparently outraged by the Foster-Conceicao verdict, the Californian has suggested starting his own league of boxing! Keeping aside his drug test failure and the ensuing one-year ban plus financial penalties, “KingRy’ found himself in fresh trouble. A few of his disparaging and offensive comments grabbed major headlines. A universal backlash followed. Amidst widespread criticism and rebuke, the WBC removed him from its membership.

Ryan Garcia’s own highway

“Yup, I’m starting my own league,” said Ryan Garcia. According to him, the sport has fallen into a sort of mockery. He stressed that boxing was already in a poor state when he was actively involved. Perhaps, after the Foster-Conceicao fiasco, the situation has further deteriorated ever since.

He had tagged the ESPN Ringside post featuring ‘Ice Water’ emotional outburst post-fight results. Completely blown away by the shocker, the Texas native, who was just short of tears, said he wasn’t really sure how it (the scores) all transpired. “I thought thought it was an easy fight; I didn’t get touched, but with a head butt like I don’t know, man,” he said.

When asked how he would want to proceed further, Foster assured that he would come back. Seeking a rematch, he said, “I want the rematch. Of course, I want the rematch. They they stole this fight for me. They stole this fight from me. I just wanted to show the world I can bang it at, and if I want to I I I don’t have to get touched, but I guess it wasn’t it wasn’t good enough for the judges.”

Putting aside the general disapproval, the stats might prove otherwise, including how the fight went and the boxer who was more active.

Are facts out of touch with reality?

According to CompuBox, out of the total number of punches thrown, while 25% of O’Shaquie Foster’s shot made a connection, only 11% from Robson Conceicao proved effective. Further dissection reveals the disparity when it comes to jabs and power punches as well.

With 51 of his 263 jabs and 58 out of the 172 power shots landing, Foster outperformed Robson Conceicao’s 7% jabs and nearly 16% of power shots. One would naturally wonder how, despite one judge scoring the fight in ‘Ice Water’s favor (116-112), the remaining two scored it 116-112 and 115-113, favoring the Brazilian Olympic gold medalist.

Deeply despondent Stephen A. Smith wrote, “Go ahead, Boxing…..continue to make us run away from the sport. Watching @TopRankBoxing. This kid, O’Shaquie Foster, just got straight-up robbed. He literally won 11 of 12 rounds, yet they gave the decision to Robeson Conceicao. The promoters—making us wait for the best fights—are bad enough. Bad officials make it worse.“

Whether Ryan Garcia stands true to his words and creates his own league is a different matter. However, the fact also remains that such incidents take away that sheen from the sport that has attracted generations of fans over the years. Both boxers and fans expect fair treatment. Any deviation or air of partiality has a cascading effect. Ultimately, even casual fans may be turned off and may never engage with the sport again.

What’s your take on Ryan Garcia’s offer? Do you think it will help mitigate issues like what happened in the Foster-Conceicao case? What measures should the sport take to address such fallouts?