There’s been a lot of talking points in combat sports as of late, but one surprise came from the Showtime boxing super middleweight match up between Jose Uzcategui and Andre Dirrell this past weekend.

With the eighth round coming to close, Mexico’s Jose Uzcategui had Andrew Direll backed into the corner where he unleashed a flurry of punches which ended with a vicious left hook dropping Dirrell to the canvas, but the problem is the left hook blatantly landed after the bell. Given the nature of this event Uzcategui was then handed a disqualification loss effectively giving Dirrell the 168lb title.

But from here the situation got even worse. When Uzcategui was resting in his corner, the uncle and coach of Dirrel; Leon Lawson Jr approached Uzcategui and unleashed a vicious left hook and right straight on the unsuspecting boxer who was conversing with his corner men.

Predictably this caused a massive ruckus inside the arena.

In the aftermath it was reported by ESPN that Leon Lawson Jr’s status as “wanted by cops and they don’t know where he is”.

Direll spoke about the altercation with CBS sports and was apologetic for what transpired inside of the ring.

“I’m very sorry for what my coach has done. But he loves me. That’s my man, that’s my uncle, that’s my brother, that’s my coach.”

Surprisingly Direll held no ill will toward his opponent despite what happened.

“All I remember honestly was him catching me with a shot probably at the same time as the bell rang because I remember hearing the bell. But after that, it’s a blurred vision but I do want to say this, I love Uzcategui and I love his camp.”

What’s your opinion? Check out the footage below.

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Author: Nic is a designer and illustrator alongside being a martial arts enthusiast. You can find some of his illustrative work for purchase here.