Salt Papi will not be marching in the Tony Ferguson victory parade.
That’s because the British social media star, real name Nathaniel Bustamante, is still seething over the controversial stoppage in his “El Cucuy” boxing match at Misfits 22 last weekend in Manchester.
“I had to put my hands up and then the referee just stepped [in] and there was only like 20 seconds left on the counter,” Papi told The Fighting Conversation. “I felt like the fans got robbed of a proper fight. It wasn’t like I got knocked
out, it was the ref. The ref was a bit biased. The other refs were acting differently for all different fights. Like [Luke] Rockhold, he was knocked down on floor and the ref was still counting.”
Benny Decroos is a former amateur boxer credited with 379 bouts as a referee and 588 fights as a ringside judge.
“Everyone saw what happened — I was working him in round one and round two,” Papi continued. “Obviously in round three I slowed down. I told my cornerman, ‘I’m gonna take a rest because I already won two rounds.‘ I was taking a rest in round three, that’s why I was not moving too much, because he was trying to tire me out.”
Decroos was also the referee for the Amadeusz Ferrari vs. Rahim Pardesi fight.
The loss to Ferguson snapped a two-fight win streak and dropped Bustamante to 4-3 overall. As for Ferguson (1-0), his victory at Misfits 22 marked the first of his pro boxing career and will likely lead to more opportunities in the “sweet science” in the coming months.
For more results and fallout from Misfits Boxing 22 click here.
