Esteuri Suero (12-1) is still shaking his head.
The previously unbeaten lightweight prospect suffered his first career defeat on Saturday night under dubious circumstances.
The 23-year-old was winning most of the rounds against Starling Castillo (18-1) but ended up getting deducted a total of 3 points in the final 2 rounds of his super lightweight showdown. He would ultimately lose by the scores of 93-94 and 92-95 twice.
The fight took place at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on the Rolando Romero-Ismael Barroso undercard.
“I can’t believe it,” Suero told BoxingScene.com. “It was a rough fight, man. We were both physical in there but I never bit him.
“I can’t believe that the referee just took his word for it. Celestino Ruiz has a lot of experience and he just took his word for (the bite) with no proof. The doctor looked at him and said there was no bite.
“I watched the fight tape and there’s no video evidence at all. I never bit that man. Not only did I get deducted those points but the deductions made the judges feel I lost those rounds which I know I won.
Suero is not just worried about the result of this fight but also his reputation moving forward.
He vows to come back stronger than ever but doesn’t want to be labeled as a dirty fighter.
“This isn’t fair at all. Castillo just made up a story and got the ref to believe him. Ruiz has tarnished my name. I hope he goes back and watches the tape so he can see for himself that I never bit him.
“The referee has a lot of experience so hopefully he will also learn from this and not just believe everything a fighter says. A lot of fighters will lie and do whatever it takes to win a fight and that’s what happened to me Saturday.”
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