Jose Aldo thinks he was robbed of a victory against Jeremy Stephens at Gamebred Boxing 4.
Aldo, a former longtime UFC featherweight champion, fought Stephens to a majority draw on Saturday at Fizerv Forum in Milwaukee, in what was a boxing rematch of an MMA fight that took place under the UFC banner in July 2018.
It was a competitive bout over six rounds, but in the end two of the three judges scored it even. That came as quite a shock to the UFC Hall of Famer, because Aldo thinks he clearly won four of the rounds.
“I really think I won this fight,” Aldo told reporters through an interpreter at the Gamebred Boxing 4 post-fight news conference. “I won four rounds. Maximum, I lost two rounds. But 100 percent, I won this fight. I’m really disappointed in the judges. I won this fight 100 percent.
“I feel disappointed and frustrated about the result because I worked very hard for this. Before my last fight in the UFC, I worked boxing every day, too. This year I worked every single day. I worked morning, nighttime and the way the fight going, I still won the fight. After the fight, I thought in my mind I won 100 percent.”
With the result, Aldo’s record in his post-UFC boxing run sits at 1-0-1. The possibility of another matchup with Stephens to put any controversy to rest was immediately brought up in the ring, and Aldo didn’t dismiss it.
There is, however, the lingering possibility of facing boxing legend Floyd Mayweather in an exhibition bout later this year. Aldo said prior to his fight with Stephens that negotiations have happened, and he’s going to leave his management team to decide his best path forward.
“I need to sit down with my management team, Ali Abdelaziz, to see the next step,” Aldo said. “He’s going to do the decision to have the third fight against Jeremy or make the fight with Mayweather. But I need to see for the next opponent about the weight. I feel the weight a little bit. Jeremy is probably 10, 15 pounds heavier than me. No excuses. He’s a tough guy. I like him. But I need to see this, because in the fight I felt the difference.”
