Britain's Anthony Crolla has been granted a rematch against Darleys Perez following a controversial draw in their WBA lightweight title bout earlier this month.
The 28-year-old looked set to claim victory just seven months on from suffering a fractured skull and a broken ankle, only to be denied by some contentious scoring from the judges.
One judge scored the Manchester Arena bout 116-111 in Crolla's favour, while the other two called it a 113-113 draw, despite Perez being deducted two points for low blows.
However, following an appeal by promoter Eddie Hearn, the WBA has now ordered the Colombian fighter to face Crolla once more.
Speaking to Sky Sports News, Hearn said: "You're always hopeful but in the back of your mind you are thinking 'will it fall on deaf ears?'
"I spoke to the WBA president Gilberto Mendoza and he watched the fight and felt that Crolla won the fight convincingly as well. We put an official request and complaint in to the WBA.
"The British Boxing Board of Control also backed us and wrote to the WBA and said how we feel that the decision is wrong. They went through the official process and came back in the early hours of this morning, stating that Darleys Perez must rematch Anthony Crolla."
Hearn expects the rematch to be staged in Manchester on November 21.
Daniel Lewis
