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N'Dam took the vacant title in Tokyo despite being knocked
out by the 31-year-old Japanese and suffering heavy punishment
for the majority of the fight.
WBA president Gilberto Jesus Mendoza confirmed that two judges,
Panama's Gustavo Padilla and Canadian Hubert Earle, have been
suspended for six months over their scoring of the fight.
"My scoring, as well as the scoring of five judges and the
supervisor of the fight, were different from that of Mr. Padilla
and Earle," Mendoza told a news conference on Thursday.
"I had to address this case personally, and so I did it on
Saturday night. However, we had to announce our decision on the
judges after a closer evaluation."
Two judges saw an N'Dam victory with 116-111 and 115-112. The
third had Murata up 117-110 -- the same score as Mendoza.
"First of all let me apologize to Murata, Teiken Promotions and
all Japanese boxing fans," Mendoza added. "I feel angry and
frustrated for not being able to serve the sport with the right
decisions."
"I will demand the championship committee to order a direct
rematch."
The defeat was 2012 London Olympics gold medallist Murata's
first as a professional after 12 straight victories, while N'Dam
improved his record to 36-2.
(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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