Eddie Hearn left FURIOUS at ‘absolutely disgusting’ scorecards in Zelfa Barrett’s win over Kiko Martinez as Matchroom promoter questions how British boxing can continue to …

A furious Eddie Hearn blasted two of the scorecards that saw Zelfa Barrett given a wide points victory against Kiko Martinez.

The two fighters battled out a thrilling contest at the SSE Arena in Wembley in which Martinez, 34, was believed to have claimed victory in many of the early and middle rounds before 27-year-old Barrett finished strongly.

A marginal victory for one of the fighters was thought to be likely, while some others believed a draw was going to be decided upon.

Eddie Hearn blasted two scorecards that saw Zelfa Barrett given a wide points win against Kiko Martinez

The two fighters, 27 and 34, battled out a thrilling contest at the SSE Arena in Wembley

However, Manchester-born Barrett – who retained his IBF Intercontinental super-featherweight title via unanimous decision – ended up the easy winner after two of the three judges returned scores of 118-111 and the other 116-113.

And speaking after the fight, Matchroom promoter Hearn launched a furious rant at the surprising pair of scores and questioned how boxing in the UK can continue to attract ‘world-class’ talent from abroad if they see little reward for their efforts.

‘I thought 118-111 is absolutely disgusting for Kiko Martinez,’ said Hearn. ‘He might as well not have bothered.

‘How are we going to bring foreign fighters to this country to take on opponents when they get absolutely zero credit for their performance?

Martinez (left) was believed to have claimed victory in many of the early and middle rounds

Barrett however finished strongly, leaving many to believe the result was going to be close

‘It has nothing to do with Zelfa Barrett’s performance and you can rightfully say he won a fight, but if he won the fight, he won it by a round or two rounds. I think we have got some fantastic officials but 118-111 doesn’t do anyone any favours. 

‘He [Barrett] won’t get the credit for the win because everyone will be talking about scorecards and Kiko Martinez won’t get credit even though for 12 rounds he was relentless.

‘So how are we going to bring world class fighters to this country with scorecards like that? It wasn’t one, it was two of them, and we’ve seen them before.

But the Brit ended up the easy winner after two of the three judges returned scores of 118-111

‘These guys are putting their health and their life on the line, and after all that effort, he might as well have boxed off the back foot and had an easy night.’ 

Saturday night’s bout between Barrett and Martinez served as the co-main event for Josh Warrington’s return against Mauricio Lara. 

However, Warrington sent shockwaves through the British boxing scene by losing to underdog Lara via a seventh round knockout to suffer his first career defeat in 30 fights. 

The fight served as the co-main event for Josh Warrington’s shock defeat against Mauricio Lara