Andrea Botez Awarded TKO In Mogul Chessboxing Championship, 2 Winners
Following a controversial ruling at the Mogul Chessboxing Championship, which took place on Sunday, the organizer's Twitter account "Mogul Moves" announced an updated result on Tuesday regarding the match between WGM Dina Belenkaya and Andrea Botez. While the former won the encounter on Sunday, the Canadian streamer-celebrity was awarded a TKO (Technical Knockout) and a belt, without rescinding Belenkaya's win.
— Mogul Moves (@MogulMoves) December 13, 2022
After Sunday's fight, which Belenkaya won by resignation on the chess board, fans expressed outrage on Twitter, posting screenshots and clips of the total counts in the boxing match. Fighters are entitled to standing eight counts (eight seconds to catch their breath), which a referee may invoke to protect a boxer who receives heavy damage. A fourth in a match, however, results in a TKO, a loss.
Botez, facing a forced checkmate on the chess board, was in a must-win situation in the third round of boxing. She dominated the fight in the ring, and it was not clear whether Belenkaya received four standing eight counts or not at the time.
What the heck was the ref doing in Andrea’s match????
— Alexandra Botez (@alexandrabotez) December 12, 2022
Andrea was robbed
— Fabiano Caruana (@FabianoCaruana) December 12, 2022
After the decision on Tuesday to award Botez the win, her fans are responding positively on Twitter. Some, jokingly or not, call for a rematch.
DOUBLE WIN LETS GO https://t.co/XiKQkagg5b
— Andrea Botez (@itsandreabotez) December 13, 2022
Thank you @MogulMoves
— Dina Belenkaya (@DinaBelenkaya) December 13, 2022
Nevertheless I have myself decided to revert your decision of reverting the outcome of the match.
THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE.
REMATCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Just do a rematch 👀
— GothamChess (@GothamChess) December 13, 2022
After talking to the officials we thought this was the best path forward
— ludwig (@LudwigAhgren) December 13, 2022
Impossible to rewind the clock but always best to do right when possible
Congrats to @itsandreabotez and @DinaBelenkaya !!
Belenkaya, potentially fueling the call for a rematch, has also released the following tweets.
« It’s so sad for @itsandreabotez who trained for 3 weeks in boxing… »
— Dina Belenkaya (@DinaBelenkaya) December 13, 2022
I trained for 26 years in chess.
I started playing at 3.
First competition at 5.
This is called chess boxing AND I’M THE WINNER 🏆
"The people's champion"...
— Dina Belenkaya (@DinaBelenkaya) December 13, 2022
"Double win"...
And all your loosers concepts coming from the Matrix to espace reality
Want my belt ? REMATCH IN RUSSIA pic.twitter.com/pTQD4l15Bb
You can watch the video of the full fight below.
Previous Coverage:
NM Anthony Levin caught the chess bug at the "late" age of 18 and never turned back. He earned his national master title in 2021, actually the night before his first day of work at Chess.com.
Anthony, who also earned his Master's in teaching English in 2018, taught English and chess in New York schools for five years and strives to make chess content accessible and enjoyable for people of all ages. At Chess.com, he writes news articles and manages social media for chess24.
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