On January 1, Ukrainian heavyweight boxer Iago Kiladze battled Viktor Faust on the undercard of the Luis Ortiz vs Charles Martin main event.
The bout was intense right from the first bell, with both fighters going hell for leather for the win.
Kiladze was stunned early on after receiving a left hook which dropped him in round one. Faust, who had never been dropped previous to this fight, then got a taste of his own medicine and fell to the canvas after a sharp counter right from Kiladze not long after he himself had recovered from the mat.
Usually, after a swashbuckling sequence like this in a boxing match, fans might expect the pace to calm down, as it’s not often that fights stay at such a breakneck speed, but this wasn’t the case.
The fighters shared five knockdowns between them, which certainly isn't a regular occurrence, especially so early on in a fight. An instant classic for sure.
Iago scored the fourth of the aforementioned five knockdowns when Faust was knocked down for just the second time ever, but it wasn’t until an overhand right dropped Kiladze that the referee stepped in.
The official on the night Samuel Burgos asked Kiladze to walk towards him, but when the Ukrainian stumbled, the fight was waved off.
This was met by immense disappointment from the fans, and even Viktor Faust, who was awarded the victory, couldn't hide his confusion at the decision.
A controversial decision in sport is usually met with a lot of frustration from everyone involved, particularly the loser, which is understandable. However, Iago Kiladze seemed to take these frustrations out with a quick jab to the referee as the official was calling off the fight.
Boxing, and all combat sports for that matter, is intense, and it’s expected that emotions will run high. That’s the case here as the losing Ukrainian let out a frustrated yell as he connected with the referee.
The act was obviously baffling for viewers around the world, but the referee himself was luckily able to see the funny side and laugh off such a bizarre incident.
A weird way for the world of boxing to see in the new year, madness!