{"id":852682,"date":"2026-08-10T06:56:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T06:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/852682\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T06:56:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T06:56:09","slug":"boxing-emma-nesbitt-becomes-mandatory-challenger-for-world-title-after-split-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/852682\/","title":{"rendered":"Boxing: Emma Nesbitt becomes mandatory challenger for world title after split decision"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a high-action fight, but has led to online pushback as people claim controversy over the scorecards and possible low blows. Throughout the fight, Wada showed aggression and consistently landed hard shots, taking control of the majority of the fight.<\/p>\n

There were moments where Nesbitt<\/a> looked like she was in trouble, to the point that the referee would be in position in case he had to jump in. But she would start fighting back every time.<\/p>\n

\"EmmaEmma “Little Miss” Nesbitt (Ng\u0101ti Kahu, Te Rarawa) with her WBA Gold Atomweight title belt that has earned her a shot at the world title<\/p>\n

Round 10 was where most of the contention erupted. Halfway through, Wada landed a body shot right on the belt line, and fans argued over whether it was an illegal or legal punch.<\/p>\n

After it landed, Nesbitt went on her knees. If it was a legal punch, this would be a knockdown; however, the referee declared it an illegal punch, giving Nesbitt time to recover.<\/p>\n

After some time, the fight continued. Both boxers tried to fight out, but Wada landed multiple punches that looked below the belt. The ref stepped in again after another controversial shot that looked illegal and took a point off Wada.<\/p>\n

The fight went the distance, going straight to the scorecards at the end of the 10th round.<\/p>\n

Two of the judges scored the contest 96-93 and 95-94 to Nesbitt, and one gave it to Wada 96-93, meaning Nesbitt won by split decision.<\/p>\n

After the fight, a lot of negative comments spread across social media over the result.<\/p>\n

Retired Kiwi pro heavyweight boxer Junior Fa took to social media saying: \u201cBoth fighters fought their hearts out and deserve our respect. What we witnessed had nothing to do with the fighters. The real questions need to be directed at the judges, the referee, and the WBA\u201d.<\/p>\n

Wada\u2019s management has also made a statement after the bout: \u201cEmma is an exceptionally tough and great fighter, and I have learned firsthand how warm and kind everyone on her team is\u2026. While we were fully prepared for the scoring risks of fighting away from home, we still feel a deep sense of regret regarding the situation with that body blow.\u201d<\/p>\n

BX-9 Social said: \u201cWe have zero control over the sanctioning bodies. We aspire to be a fair and unbiased platform. If a team believes the decision is unfair they can appeal to the sanctioning body\u201d.<\/p>\n

Wada\u2019s team have made an official appeal on the result of the fight. It is unknown how long this will take.<\/p>\n

Nesbitt is the challenger for the WBA World Atomweight world champ Spain\u2019s Isabel Rivero. If the appeal fails, Peach Boxing Gym will start negotiations with Rivero\u2019s team.<\/p>\n

Nesbitt made her professional boxing debut in June 2023, when she suffered her one and only loss – to Holly McMath. Since then, she joined Peach Boxing Gym.<\/p>\n

\"Ng\u0101puhi\u2019sNg\u0101puhi\u2019s Keanu Naden lost his latest boxing match against Australian Adrian Paoletti by split decision<\/p>\n

Ng\u0101puhi\u2019s Keanu Naden<\/a>, who is in the same gym as Nesbitt, also fought on the card, taking on Australian Adrian Paoletti. This was another high-action fight bringing together two different fighting styles.<\/p>\n

In the first three rounds, Paoletti tried to control the fight and outbox Naden. Naden tried to get into the middle of Paoletti\u2019s guard and land heavy shots, but Paoletti led the fight in each round. The fight ended with Paoletti winning by split decision.<\/p>\n

Northland fighter Dhcamad Armstrong took on Niwa Barlow in the first Hyper fight. The fight is a boxing-striking combat sport that uses 4oz gloves in a brawling-type style, over five two-minute rounds. Barlow won by unanimous decision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was a high-action fight, but has led to online pushback as people claim controversy over the scorecards…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":852683,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[8349,14901,13849,703,49,48,66387,1198,16222,20618,693,4048,3202,52922,5508,296528,296530,28061,2732,49679,296529,82,296531,14055,11376,3275,9911],"class_list":["post-852682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-after","tag-becomes","tag-boxer","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-challenger","tag-decision","tag-earning","tag-emma","tag-for","tag-history","tag-little","tag-mandatory","tag-miss","tag-nesbitt","tag-possibly","tag-professional","tag-shot","tag-smallest","tag-split","tag-sports","tag-stopped","tag-that","tag-title","tag-world","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=852682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/852682\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/852683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=852682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=852682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=852682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}