The WBC has commented on admissions by retired referee Carlos Padilla in a recent interview that he intentionally made several calls to help his countryman Manny Pacquiao win a 2000 fight against Australian Nedal Hussein. Padilla stated that 1) he intentionally prolonged a ten-round after Pacquiao was knocked down and 2) ruled that a cut to Hussein was caused by a punch when it was actually caused by a headbutt.
WBC Statement: The World Boxing Council has established a special panel to review the situation about Legendary Referee Carlos Padilla with regards to some comments during an interview published by The WBC a few days ago.
We have received a sensitive letter from Mr. Padilla´s daughter Suzy which is found in this release as she has addressed it to the boxing Community of the world. The letter is self-explanatory and I, as President of The WBC, as well as a human being who has known Mr. Padilla since I was 10 years old, I can certainly empathize with Suzy and the contents of her letter to the boxing Community.
I will personally follow the process in the meantime, The WBC will not make any further public comments.
Sincere regards
Mauricio Sulaiman
November 29, 2022
To the boxing community of the world:
My father is an 88-year-old man who is just that – old and aging!
Despite the fact that he has been living in the United States for decades, English remains his 2nd language. Communications can be misconstrued and well-intentioned words can be misinterpreted. The present situation is one such glaring example of what might have actually been said, (no pun intended), and what may have been taken out of context.
My father is a decent and honorable man. He dedicated his life to boxing and boxers and cared for them and their well-being, regardless of nationality or circumstance. He refereed numerous historic fights with the likes of Muhammad Ali, Hagler, Leonard, Hearns, and many more fighters for the entirety of his career. He has since retired and has been out of the spotlight for as long as I can remember. Oh, but he loves to talk and entertain because like any other human, he still yearns to feel relevant.
I invite everyone to ask about Carlos Padilla among his peers: promoters, fighters, referees or anyone from his era and hopefully, you will learn about my father’s true character.
He does not need controversies at this very late stage in his life. I know I may sound biased, being the eldest child of six, but I believe that through his legacy, he has proven his worth and we, his family, would appreciate it if people respected his contributions to the boxing community he so loved, by giving him some well-deserved consideration.
Thank you!
Suzy Padilla Tuano
_
Not to single out a referee in boxing, but also imagine the dozens if not hundred’s of ref’s at the NBA, NFL or MLB that have done the same?! Human beings making human errors and worse CORRUPTION!
– Watched most of the interview.
– Carlos appeared to know what he was talking about and had some fun discussing it.
– Looks like the WBC is in CYA (Cover Your A$$) mode.
– Respect to Suzy for picking up for her dad; right, wrong, or indifferent.
Yes, I agree, WBC is covering themselves. Cracks me up the WBC acts like they play no part in foul behaviors, politics, and monetary influences. Yeah, right!
Curious as to what the comments on this thread would look like if Kenny Bayless goes on record stating he cheated for Floyd Mayweather…
Totally correct this is exactly what I was thinking as soon as I finished reading this article. Little Floyd could cheat and no one ever said anything including when he injected himself with a mysterious substance right before the Pacquiao fight. Of course his male groupies will throw temper tantrums defending him saying it was really nothing but if the roles had been reversed there would have been a full blown investigation.
Floyd the overrated self proclaimed GOAT was always going to get the benefit of the doubt by corrupt Vegas officials including the NSAC
great comment Vic. Floyd is proof that if you lie often enough people will eventually believe you.
The IBRO published a piece a few years ago about the history of WW division and it great fighters. Floyd was not in the top 20 but Billy Graham and Gil turner who were not champions were. There were so many terrific WW’s in the past. I wish Floyds fan boys knew something about the history of the sport. Does anyone really believe Floyd would have beaten Hearns, Duran, Leonard, Gavilan, Basilio, Robinson and many more? If they believe that they are delusional or more likely ignorant and know NOTHING about the history of boxing
And the WBC is totally corrupt and I believe Carlos
– I would have commented the same.
You can’t cheat when th3 man isnt getting hit. Floyds fights may be the easiest to referee.
WBC changed the result of Fenech vs Nelson.
It’s time to do the same here.
I checked the video and time from the moment Pacquiao went down and got up after 10 seconds and Padilla gave him 7 or 8 more seconds before let the fight to resume. It could have been a KO victory for Hussein, also the headbutt is very clear, not intentional from Pacquiao, but it was a headbutt no doubt, nonetheless, I think Padilla state of mind is not so well
I had Pacquiao up before 10. Went back and hit stop watch while he was falling, which is really a bit too soon, and he was up at 10. Pacquiao was clearly buzzed but was listening to the count like he should. 7-8 seconds added by ref talking, cleaning gloves and calling fighters together. Nothing unusual. Today would be longer thanks to refs asking for all sorts of side-to-side movement. This was no WWE ref twirling the ends of his mustache enacting some evil plan. Level of controversy should be 2/10.
Don’t forget to “Cover up” and go to sleep now….….
Better promote a re-match between Manny Pacquiao and Nedal Hussein whether its an 8-10 round exibition fight.. to distinguish who will win! Both will earn.. Fighters to convince doubters. Nedal Hussein will fightback or demand……!
I watched tape of the fight. Manny took the eight count and nothing more. The 18 second count didn’t happen. Padilla is delusional.
It only takes a few moments to ruin a lifetime of work, in my honest opinion the Man is a cheater and cost possibly one boxer a better career if the fight would have been judged properly, it doesn’t matter what else you have done when you admit you are a cause of the most underlying problem in boxing . Referees and judges cheat point blank period, it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t happen all the time, one time is we enough cancer to kill the sport. Shame on this man for cheating and later laughing at it. In my opinion he is a old cheater.
When humans are involved there is always going to be errors, and some corruption. and for the most part Carlos did good for boxing. May I remind you that boxing, football, hockey are all listed as private organizations for entrainment.. no law against them entraining the people in a way for most profit. and Don’t single out WBC .. if you do.. than mention NBA, NFL etc.. they bend the rules.. there is always going to be home cooking.. sometimes its the right thing to do even if its wrong.. especially if you want to get out alive.. hahahaha
3 wrongs dont make a right!!!
This is a Boxing thread and there should be no mentions of rule bending in NBA, NFL etc.
I saw that fight padilla counted way to long to give too much respect for pacquioa advantage. padilla should be fined thats corruption in boxing and Nedal Hussein should be compensated for it.
Keep the same energy for Russell Mora and his long count, counting slow and screaming until Fury woke up from a KO.
No difference here.
Fined? His fights should be investigated. His own fault for opening his mouth.
If he’s really not all there as they are saying now, then maybe he shouldn’t be allowed to speak to a public setting like that.
Whats to review? Sorry we all know referees are fans of the sport and its difficult to not hold back when your a fan of the guy who got knocked down. We have all seen it. The slow counts, the fast counts, the extra time after a knock down. Just because this ref was honest and told the world what he did the WBC is going to act like this has not been going on? What about all the judges. We have all seen the score cards and some are more than clearly a fan or a payoff. Thats why for the 40+ years Ive watched boxing the boxers say they cant leave a fight in the hands of judges or refs. Looks at the Fury Wilder 1 fight. How many refs normally stop a fight when a guy goes down like Fury did? Thats normally an instant KO. Or the really bad cut Fury got after that. A lot of refs and or doctors would have waved it off (not all, but a lot). Mayweather’s corner men jumping in the ring and one of them putting hands on Judah would normally have been a quick DQ. Those are just a couple examples, but Refs and judges are fans and flawed. That “long” count Pac got was not a huge deal because he was already up and clear headed. I dont think the couple extra seconds helped, but lets hang this guy for being honest. Again we all know it happens and I would rather hear about it and know for sure, but this outcome will keep others from telling the stories.
Easy solution, give Nadar Hussein the belt,20 years on , just like you did with Jeff Fenech. Fenech got robbed against Azuma Nelson 30years ago and you rectified that. This isn’t any different.88yrs old or not the ref admitted cheating,he hasn’t got dementia,remembers the incident well.
So….Fix It !!!!!
What a shame.. but not surprised at all !
MS discribes himself as a human being.That is a profound statement.Thats very interesting statement.
Best person to comment on this issue is Jeff Fenech, he was the trainer of hussein that night and in the days after the fight he made it known that the local fighter (Pacquiao) received favorable conditions during the fight, and this was before anybody knew who Pacquiao was
Carlos Padilla confessed in a very lucid way that can only be regarded as truth. The fact that he is so flippant about his corruption makes his actions all the worse. Age does not absolve Carlos Padilla.