Joe Cortez, normally a "fair but firm" (his motto) referee was anything but during last nights fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Ricky Hatton. Ricky Hatton was successful during the fight in forcing Mayweather to fight his fight, and Joe Cortez with his atrocious referring was even more successful in ensuring that Mayweather would be allowed to keep the fight at arms length, which is what he wanted. He should have taken away a point from Mayweather at various points in the fight instead he allowed Mayweather to continually hold and hit Hatton behind the head. When Mayweather ducked between the ropes in an obvious attempt to escape Hatton's punches, Cortez took a point away from Hatton. Clearly, Hatton was in the middle of an exchange. The point should have been taken from Mayweather, or at the very least, he should have been given a stern warning. Bad referring can interfere with a fighters game plan and his concentration. It can alter the outcome of a fight. Clearly a bad night of refereeing by Joe Cortez last night.
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Joe Cortez
Joe Cortez, normally a "fair but firm" (his motto) referee was anything but during last nights fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Ricky Hatton. Ricky Hatton was successful during the fight in forcing Mayweather to fight his fight, and Joe Cortez with his atrocious referring was even more successful in ensuring that Mayweather would be allowed to keep the fight at arms length, which is what he wanted. He should have taken away a point from Mayweather at various points in the fight instead he allowed Mayweather to continually hold and hit Hatton behind the head. When Mayweather ducked between the ropes in an obvious attempt to escape Hatton's punches, Cortez took a point away from Hatton. Clearly, Hatton was in the middle of an exchange. The point should have been taken from Mayweather, or at the very least, he should have been given a stern warning. Bad referring can interfere with a fighters game plan and his concentration. It can alter the outcome of a fight. Clearly a bad night of refereeing by Joe Cortez last night.
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7 comments:
I agree, Joe Cortez was helping Mayweather
Also-related to that-some of us watching thought it was a little strange that all three judges were from the US-and I think Vegas,which generally has strange decisions.
Point well taken Brian and one that escaped me.
I didn't see the whole fight, but, What I did see was an ugly sloppy hard to manage affair. Although Joe Cortez did not do a good job that night, I would have to put most of the blame on Mayweather. He was consistantly holding and elbowing and just made it hard for any referee to manage. His tactic of hitting Hatten on the way in with 1 or 2 shots then tying him up was his gameplan. The fact that Cortez didn't stop Mayweather from that doing that with warnings and point deductions was the problem. Hatten was the smaller guy and easily man handled. Joe Cortez mis-managed this fight badly and warned the wrong fighter in most cases. Mayweather is crafty and experienced and doesn't like to mix it up. He will never be pound for pound just like sweet pea. Nobody wants to see him fight unless it's one of the top contenders we think will beat him....As far as the judges are concerned, this is Vegas and anything can happen. Remeber Trinidad vs. De La Hoya??
That was one of the worst displays of boxing refereeing I have ever seen. Joe Cortez should be suspended for his favoritism towards Mayweather.
Just a thought...The Roberto Duran Iran Barkley fight was Ring magazines fight of the year in 1989. It was a great action filled fight. The refereee for that fight was....Joe Cortez. Although the decision was a bad one (one judge had it 118-112 for Duran) the referee was not a factor because the fighters both wanted to mix it up.
It's funny but I remember the decision as being a pretty good one. I had forgotten that Joe Cortez was the ref that night. Apparently on that night he did his job right. By the way Scott, that was a low blow...and it hurt, lol.
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