The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario has banned all province sportsbooks from accepting wagers on World Boxing Association-sanctioned fights after alleged betting irregularities took place involving a December 2023 bout between Yoenis Tellez and Liam Navarro.
The AGCO had been investigating circumstances around the fight after suspicious betting patterns were flagged by two ed independent integrity monitors, and detected by one of the province’s iGaming operators. The betting in question centered around the length of the fight, as the wagers all wanted the bout to last longer than 5.5 rounds.
After a review that included speaking to the WBA, Ontario-based operators, independent integrity monitors, and regulators outside the province, the AGCO determined that WBA-related bets don’t currently meet the Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming in Canada.
“Ontarians who wish to bet on sporting events need to be confident that those events are fairly run, and that clear integrity safeguards are in place and enforced by an effective sport governing body,” said Dr. Karin Schnarr, Registrar and CEO of the AGCO, in a statement. “Knowing the popularity of boxing in Ontario, we look forward to reinstating betting on WBA events once appropriate safeguards against possible match-fixing and insider betting have been confirmed.”
Tellez’s manager the center of controversy 2k541m
WOW KNOCKOUT OF THE YEAR 😲😲 BRUTAL ONE PUNCH KO BRUTAL KNOCKOUT BY Yoenis Tellez OVER Livan Navarro – CINEMATIC WARMODE pic.twitter.com/AxnKbkLM0G
— TUCKER WORLD 85 (@tuckerworld85) December 16, 2023
The 23-year-old and heavily favored Tellez improved to 7-0 with a 10th-round knockout that was also the longest fight of his professional career. The bout was one of the undercards on the Jake Paul-Andre August fight at the Caribe Royale in Orlando.
In its report, the AGCO acknowledged a Jan. 23 article in the Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood, Fla.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Tellez said in a separate interview he knew nothing about Perez’s wager. Perez told the Journal he jokingly asked to make a $500,000 wager, but did place a $110,000 bet.
The newspaper, according to its review of Hard Rock’s internal incident report, claimed Perez made an additional $19,000 wager on the over — which he denied. It also claimed someone in his group made a $30,000 bet on the fight lasting longer than 5.5 rounds. Perez claimed he had money to wager after betting on Tellez in his previous fight last summer.
The AGCO and the province of Alberta had previously put a halt on UFC wagering in December 2022, citing problems with insider betting within the mixed martial arts’ organization. The UFC amended its policies and enacted new protocols that satisfied both agencies in short order. Wagering was again permitted the following month.
