The credibility of boxing has once again been thrown into doubt in the wake of some controversial scoring at Joseph Parker’s successful defence of his WBO heavyweight title against Hughie Fury in Manchester on Saturday.

Although many ringside had Parker the winner, the overwhelming scores awarded to the Kiwi by two of the judges, in sharp contrast to the draw scored by the third scorer, has brought the threat of legal action from Fury’s promoter Mickey Hennessey.

The furore comes in the wake of Adalaide Byrd being given a temporary break from major fights following her scoring at the Canelo-Golovkin match-up in Las Vegas.

Her 118-110 scoring in favour of Canelo put her directly at odds with her fellow judges.

Across the five rounds that her colleagues scored for Golovkin, Byrd awarded each round to Canelo, a move which Golovkin damned as “not good for boxing.”

For Parker-Fury, Terry O’Connor and John Madfis scored it 118-110 in favour of Parker, while American Rocky Young had it a 114-114 draw.

“What the f*** is going on?” raged Hennessey.

“There is something going on, something behind bull***t decisions like these.

“I want to get the result overturned and get our lawyers behind it. That result is corruption at the highest level in boxing.

“I know corruption is a strong word but there are dark forces at work in this game.

“We will put in an appeal and protest this as strongly as we can. A rematch has to be a worst-case scenario.”

Hennessy reserved most of his ire for O’Connor.

“Terry has buckled under the pressure, he really has.

“Hughie wiped the floor with Parker. I gave him only two rounds.

“I thought it was a masterclass for Hughie, the footwork, how he glided around the ring, landing jabs at will.

“It was shades of Muhammad Ali. Why can’t that be appreciated?

“Do they score hitting fresh air and hitting elbows and arms?”

Despite Hennessy’s outspoken rant, the BBBofC will take no action.

Chief Robert Smith said: “Terry O’Connor is an experienced world-class official and scored the bout as he saw it.

“With regard to his other comments, they are totally unjustified and unwarranted.”

Fury’s father and trainer Peter Fury was more measured in his response, pointing to the need for Hughie to add a further, more aggressive, dimension to his game.

Although, he still had his son as the clear winner because Parker missed a lot, Fury Snr. admitted.

"I wanted him to do more. I wanted him to use the right hand. I wanted him to be more confident and let his shots go.”