WHEN REFEREES ARE A TAD LATE, BOXERS SUFFER
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 03 Aug 2010
Being involved with boxing either as part of a team or up near the rafters armed with a 300mm F 2.8 lens is always fun. There is no substitute for the natural high that follows the activity.
There are plenty of great experiences that ?go with the territory?, some bad but mostly good and so are exciting incidences worth sharing with others.
Case in point: A referee that reacts a tad late either because they are in an awkward position in relation to where the boxers are or perhaps they are just getting ?up there in age?, or even both.
For our Filipino readers as well as others who are fans of our Filipino pugs, one incident that comes to mind was the first fight between Omar Nino Romero and Rodel Mayol. If one remembers, in that fight held at Guadalajara, Mexico Omar Nino threw a late and an illegal punch that knocked Mayol out.
The referee in that fight, Vic Drakulich of Nevada ordered Omar Nino to stop after he saw Mayol react to a very low blow. But, Omar Nino either intentionally or otherwise claimed later that he did not hear the referee and so he threw a punch at Mayol who was clearly defenseless.
After a review of the fight tapes, the WBC agreed that there was a late punch and declared the fight a ?technical draw? thus allowing Mayol to keep his crown. Mayol, as everyone know by now subsequently lost a re-match with Omar Nino in yet another controversial fight where the referee ?appeared? to be bias for Omar Nino.
Then at the Marquez Diaz II last Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center at Las Vegas, a ?late punch? again occurred that resulted in a knock-out.
Sakio Bika who now fights out of Sydney, Australia was fighting Jean Paul Mendy of Paris, France in an IBF Super Middleweight eliminator.
The fight started with a bang and Bika started to chase Mendy around the ring without regards to an intelligent defense. He apparently had confidence in his power to put down the Frenchman.
Within the first 10 seconds, Bika cornered Mendy on a neutral corner right next to where the HBO cameraman stakes his position.
Bika threw a series of hard blows that put Mendy on a defensive with his arms covering his body and face. Somehow, one right straight followed by a left hook landed and dropped Mendy on one knee.
Photos show the series of blows by Bika during the final moments of the contest. Photos by Dr Ed de la Vega.
Referee Joe Cortez was close to where the action was but he was too late in pulling Bika away thus allowing Bika to throw a late right upper cut which landed solidly on Mendy?s unprotected chin dropping him face first like a timber.
Cortez knew Mendy was in no condition to get up thus he stopped the fight but did not declared Bika the winner. He had to speak to the Commission.
From our far distant camera position up behind the last row of seats on Section 220 of the Mandalay Events Center we could not hear what was being said on the ring. But it took a long conversation between Cortez and the Commission before a decision was made. The decision took a while to be made but when it was finally given, the fight was given to Mendy by disqualification.
In fairness, Cortez might have had given a verbal order to stop. In fact our photos seem to indicate that. We could not hear that from where we were. But from what we saw, Cortez was just a tad late in pulling Bika thus a punch was thrown late that resulted in a knock out.
And, he was also a tad late in declaring the fight for Mendy via disqualification. He could have done that immediately even without consultation with the Commission. The rules allowed him that option.
In the end however, he declared Mendy the ?winner by disqualification?.
That?s how it goes in boxing. It?s not always a sweet science. But in spite of its shortcomings, there is no substitute for it in terms of excitement.
As the saying goes, ?you win one and you lose one?. In this case, it appears that had Cortez been a wee bit faster, the result of the fight could have been different.
But who is to say?
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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