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Underdog Boxing: Time to go for Mayweather-Ortiz ref Joe Cortez


Joe Cortez is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. It’s definitely not easy to be a part of this group. It means you have done your part in promoting the sport of boxing and that you have spent a huge fraction of your life immersed in the sweet science. Cortez deserves to be called a hall-of-famer. He took over in the 1980s as one of boxing’s best referees after the retirement of legends such as Richard Steele and Mills Lane. He has refereed over 170 title fights in a career spanning over four decades. He was a good referee. The operative word is “was." In the fight between Floyd Mayweather and Victor Ortiz, the most crucial part of the match happened while Cortez looked away. All eyes in the MGM Arena were fixed upon the two combatants as they traded for four short rounds. Inexplicably, the owner of the set of eyes being paid to watch the fighters was the one who decided there was something outside the ring that was more important. It’s not easy to be a boxing referee. They have to make decisions on the fly without the help of instant replays. They do not have other referees in the ring to help them out or to correct them when they are erring. However, referees, specially the ones who are in charge of huge matches such as Mayweather-Ortiz, are paid good money to do their jobs and so they are expected to do it well. In boxing, it is the referee’s job to enforce the rules. He is supposed to make everything clear but in the Mayweather-Ortiz fight, the referee was one of the root causes of the confusion. All he had to do was to stay in control of the fight. He should have been there looking directly at the two fighters specially because the situation was still tense because of the blatant headbutt thrown by Ortiz. Instead Cortez was looking at someone outside the ring when Mayweather landed the one-two punch that ended the night for Ortiz. I have a lot of respect for Cortez. His boxing knowledge is vast and his experience is incomparable. However, I honestly think he needs to call it a career. My respect for him took a hit when he refereed the first Manny Pacquiao versus Erik Morales match. He said that a punch caused the cut on Pacquiao’s head when it was clearly a headbutt. This affected how the fight went on because Pacquiao knew he was going to lose if the bout was stopped because of that cut. Then he refereed the controversial Humberto Soto versus Francisco Lorenzo match. Soto whooped Lorenzo from pillar to post in that match busting his face up like it was nobody’s business. In one instance, Soto launched a furious attack that dropped Lorenzo. Soto’s aggression led him to throw an extra punch when Lorenzo was already down and the punch barely grazed the top of Lorenzo’s head. Inexplicably, Cortez decided to disqualify Soto for throwing a punch that barely caused any damage. Boxing is already in dire straits as it is. We do not need more controversy to stem from our referees. Guys like Arthur Mercante Jr., Russell Mora, Laurence Cole, and Cortez should no longer be allowed to handle big fights as they have proven time and again that they crumble under pressure. People say that boxers often don’t realize that it’s time to call it a career. They often fight on even if they are way too old. This also holds true for referees. Cortez should have called it a career long ago. Now, every blown call he has damages the legacy he has built. For your sake and for boxing’s sake, it’s time to go Joe. - OMG, GMA News

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