In the aftermath of a recent bout between former jr. middleweight champion Yuri Foreman and Miguel Cotto, HBO's Max Kellerman broke precedent and interviewed referee Arthur Mercante Jr., asking him about his decision to ignore a towel that was thrown into a ring and to let the fight continue. Post-fight interviews usually consist of talking to the winner of the bout, followed by another interview with the loser. Refs are occasionally interviewed, but it was a rare enough sight to remind fight fans of how important referees are to the sport, and how they can sometimes make or break the night.
Some say that a good referee is one you don't see very often; that the best labor behind the scenes. This may be true up to a point, but when you have volatile fighters that are known to foul, seeing a whole lot of the ref might not be a bad thing. A good example of this would be Mills Lane in the Tyson-Holyfield debacle. Tyson claimed that he was retaliating for excessive head-butting by Holyfield, and he probably was (remember the grapefruit-sized bruise Holyfield left on Hasim Rahman's head?), but a ref definitely needs to step in when one of the two fighters bites the other guy.
Since Lane is no longer active, Steve Smoger has probably become the most popular and visible referee in the game. Smoger has a reputation as a lenient man, for not stopping a fight too soon even when all of the traffic is one-way. This has resulted in some entertaining bouts that other refs might never have let happen. Recall Kelly Pavlik's first meeting with Jermain Taylor. "Bad Intentions" was rocking Pavlik in the second round and sent him to the canvas with a barrage of shots. Kelly stood on wobbling legs, held up his gloves, and then returned to the fray. He took more of the same punishment and Smoger let it continue until the bell rang and Kelly was saved. Pavlik went on to win the fight via seventh round KO, but what would have happened if another, lesser ref had been in the ring and had waved it off in the second round? Taylor would have remained champ and Kelly might not have become a household name. That's how integral refs are to the sport.
A referee whose catchphrase includes the word "fairness," Joe Cortez, unfortunately has a much more mixed reputation in the sport. His most contentious night was as referee for the Humberto Soto vs. Francisco Lorenzo bout. Soto was expected to destroy Lorenzo, and he was doing just that until Lorenzo's knee touched the canvas and Soto landed what looked like a grazing blow. Cortez ruled the blow illegal and because Lorenzo seemed as if he could not continue, Soto was disqualified.
There was much booing of the decision, and like in the Foreman-Cotto fight, the ref found himself interviewed in the aftermath. Cortez defended his decision and said that he had arrived at it all by himself, but it seemed as if even in his heart of hearts, somewhere deep in his conscience, he knew he might have ruled in error. English commentator Steve Bunce thought Cortez's behavior was slightly suspicious and had this to say, "He was like a prostitute working a room full of oil billionaires! Joe Cortez made a terrible, terrible error there. A bad call."
Bunce was fuming, but Cortez has that effect on a lot of people. Years earlier, when he was refereeing a match between Pernell Whitaker and J.C. Chavez, he was attempting to break the fighters clean when "Sweet Pea," tired of his antics, decided to shove Cortez. Joe issued a warning and the fight continued without much more trouble.
Some fighters prefer to avoid Cortez altogether. In his lightweight showdown with Juan Diaz, Juan Manuel Marquez apparently thought that with a championship on the line, it might be best to cut Cortez out of the deal completely. The proud Mexican warrior refused to fight if "fair but firm" Joe was to preside over the action. With hindsight being 20/20, Ricky Hatton probably wishes he had exercised the same stipulation in his fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. There were no excuses in his brutal loss to Manny Pacquiao, but in his fight with the pound-for-pound king "Pretty Boy" Floyd, Hatton felt that Cortez had prematurely forced the fighters to break clean whenever they got close, robbing him of his inside game.
Not all of the blame should be laid at the doorstep of Cortez. Excessive clinching, particularly near the beginning of a fight, can make an event incredibly boring. As a last resort, and going into the championship rounds, clinching makes much more sense, as both fighters are fatigued and usually cannot keep up a frantic back-and-forth pace. As a trainer once said, "the clinch can keep you from losing, but it can't make you a winner." How much different would the fight between Andre Berto and Luis Collazo have been if referee Keith Hughes hadn't broken them up early and made it clear that they were not going to hug all night?
As for ruling late hits, it is an incredibly subjective task. Remember, referees do not have the same benefit of slow-mo instant replay that we enjoy at ringside and watching at home. After Soto hit Lorenzo while he was on one knee, many claim that Lorenzo was putting on an act, that he knew if he remained down, that Soto would be disqualified because the rules clearly state that if a fighter delivers a late blow, either points will be deducted, or if the other fighter is knocked out, a disqualification will be ruled. Lorenzo had more to gain from remaining on the canvas than he did by getting up.
A recent fight that reopens this whole ref-related can of worms was the Super Six match between Andre Dirrell and Arthur Abraham. Dirrell was safely ahead on all of the cards, avoiding Abraham's power, and it looked like he was on his way to pulling off the upset, beating the 7-2 odds as an underdog and handing "King" Arthur his first loss. There were, however, a few hiccups. In the tenth round, Arthur Abraham rallied by seemingly knocking Dirrell down. Referee Lawrence Cole ruled the action a slip. This seemed to frustrate Abraham, who continually looked to the ref for help as he thought himself the victim of several low blows. The fight continued until it reached critical mass in the 11th, when Dirrell slipped on a wet spot and fell to the canvas. Abraham threw a late hit which connected and seemed to send Dirrell into paroxysms, shaking on the canvas. Pandemonium followed. Former ESPN and now Showtime commentator Al Bernstein shouted, "That's a foul and if Andre Dirrell is knocked out, Abraham should be disqualified!"
It was deja-vu all over again, a flashback to the Lorenzo-Sotto fight, with Dirrell seemingly out cold on the canvas, while Abraham and others accused him of acting, knowing that staying on the canvas meant the difference between a points-deduction and a disqualification. The hit by Abraham certainly was late, but it was nowhere near as flagrant as the blow to which it was compared, the shot delivered by Roy Jones Jr. to the downed Montel Griffin a few years back. Anyone who has boxed knows that when the blood is pumping and leather is being traded, it's hard to turn the adrenaline off at the drop of a dime. If one boxer is in the windup and the other falls to the canvas, it's not easy to pull the punch.
Reviewing the fight, especially the tenth round, it seems fair to say that Abraham knocked Dirrell down, yet Cole wrongly ruled it a slip. If Abraham had been awarded the knockdown, it's possible that he might not have been so frustrated going into the 11th and may not have resorted to the desperate action he took. We could have seen an entirely different fight, with a much more satisfying outcome.
Like Joe Cortez, Lawrence Cole has been at the center of his fair share of controversy. In the first Pacquiao-Barrera fight, Cole made several questionable decisions that highlight his track record of struggling to differentiate between slips and knockdowns. Even more heinous was his action in the Marquez-Jaca fight, where at one point, Cole told Marquez that he was ahead on the cards, a definite no-no in a bout where the rules clearly did not specify open scoring. Texas threatened a suspension, but Cole continued working in high-profile match-ups.
So what action, if any, should be taken to ensure that fighters are given a fair shake, and not left at the mercy of refs, who may be incompetent or worse? For one, promoters and matchmakers should listen to their fighters, just as when Juan Manuel Marquez refused to fight Juan Diaz if Joe Cortez was the ref and Rafael Ramos was brought in instead. Through this system, boxers would be protected from inferior refs, and the best, most impartial men would be rewarded for their common sense.
This is the best course of action to take, at least until we figure out how to clone Steve Smoger.