Ludwig and his company Mogul Moves admitted yesterday that they made a mistake during the Mogul Chessboxing Championship this weekend when Andrea Botez wasn’t declared a winner by TKO against Dina Belenkaya.
While they didn’t reverse the controversial decision made on Dec. 11, they awarded Botez a championship belt of her own as compensation, and the younger Botez sister immediately received resounding support for what she deemed a “double win.”
But on Twitter today, Belenkaya shared that she isn’t going to let Botez’s celebration take away from her victory. Openly welcoming a villainous role, Belenkaya reiterated that she was declared the winner, not Botez, and called for a Rocky Balboa-like rematch in Russia.
Mocking the notion that Botez is the “people’s champion,” Belenkaya called those shilling for Botez losers who are trying to “escape reality.”
“‘It’s so sad for @itsandreabotez who trained for 3 weeks in boxing,’” she said. “I trained for 26 years in chess. I started playing at 3. First competition at 5. This is called chessboxing, and I’m the winner.”
Assuming that Ludwig goes through with a sequel for the massively successful event that set a personal record for peak viewership, it’s safe to bet that a rematch will be in order. Not only was Botez vs. Belenkaya among the most competitive matches of the evening, but Botez herself called for a second shot at Belenkaya on social media immediately following the bout.
Published: Dec 13, 2022 04:03 pm