LAURENCE COLE ? WHAT A REFEREE SHOULDN?T BE
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 16 Dec 2013
A friend of mine, a respected and well informed writer from Manila sent me a message during the heat of battle between Marcos Maidana and the now deflated former champion, Adrien Broner.
He asked:- ?How come Laurence Cole gets all the Texas assignments? Is his Dad that powerful?? This is BS!?
In jest, I replied to him saying that ?they own the State of Texas.?
Well at least in boxing.
Truth is there are not too many referees in Texas with the connections of Laurence Cole. His dad is Dickie Cole, head of the Texas Boxing Commission and therefore he gets all the juicy assignments, ability and fairness as a referee, notwithstanding.
There would not be too many problems having the younger Cole arbitrate fights in Texas, regardless of how huge they may be, other than nepotism, if competence and fair play is assured.
But unfortunately, in some cases like the Maidana-Broner, it was not there. Cole failed miserably as the referee. He was biased and unfair.
Cole immediately deducted a point from Maidana when out of frustration from being constantly held by Broner, the Argentine purposely used his head as a weapon. He head butted Broner and the Cincinnati kid immediately did a poor Hollywood acting job by dropping to the canvas.
To his credit however, Cole did not buy the act and asked Broner to continue to fight after a mandatory rest.
But, Cole never exercised fair play other than soft warnings to Broner for constantly pushing, using his forearm and elbows as a weapon.
More importantly, he took a blind eye when Broner intentionally slugged Maidana after the bell rung ending round 11.
Laurence Cole as the referee should have exercised fair play. But last night, he appeared to be the ?house referee? by being partial to the ?house fighter?, Broner.
Cole?s poor officiating at the fight is ridiculous. He totally forgot that he had a job to do.
His performance was a disgrace to the already tainted sports called professional boxing.
But such is boxing. It?s all about connections - in getting jobs as referees, judges and big fights. In Texas however, if it?s more obvious owing to the presence of the Cole family.
Sad!
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:
Weigh-In Results: Fundora and Conwell Ready for Golden Boy Fight Night in Oceanside
Sat, 19 Apr 2025Undefeated, rising Canadian prospect Eric Basran wins in Opening round to advance to quarterfinals of inaugural Riyadh Season/WBC Boxing Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia
Sat, 19 Apr 2025WEIGHTS FROM LONG BEACH
Sat, 19 Apr 2025Weights From Washington, PA
Sat, 19 Apr 2025Jerald Into Advances in WBC Boxing Grand Prix with Dominant Win Over Ahmad Jones
Sat, 19 Apr 2025Press Conference Notes: Keyshawn Davis Set for Homecoming Title Defense against Edwin De Los Santos at Norfolk's Scope Arena
Sat, 19 Apr 2025JAKE PAUL vs JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ JR / ZURDO RAMIREZ vs YUNIEL DORTICOS JUNE 28 in ANAHEIM
Sat, 19 Apr 2025June 8: Junto Nakatani-Ryosuke Nishida Bantamweight Unification Showdown Headlines Tokyo Super Card Streaming LIVE on ESPN+
Sat, 19 Apr 2025Thursday’s Action at the 2025 USA Boxing International Open Concludes
Sat, 19 Apr 2025H2O Sylve Returns to the Ring April 26th At Gateway Center Arena in Atlanta Amado Vargas Is Co-Main Live On BLK PRIME
Sat, 19 Apr 2025FM Arca bounces back, defeats IM Laohawirapap of Thailand in 6th round
By Marlon Bernardino, Sat, 19 Apr 2025SMITH VS. GERMAIN WEIGHTS AND RUNNING ORDER
Fri, 18 Apr 2025WBO #2 WBA #2 Mikiah Kreps on Weight in Seneca Niagara
Fri, 18 Apr 2025UFC® RETURNS TO PRUDENTIAL CENTER IN NEWARK, NEW JERSEY WITH BLOCKBUSER CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLEHEADER
Fri, 18 Apr 2025AMATEUR HEAVYWEIGHT SENSATION LEO ATANG SIGNS PROMOTIONAL DEAL WITH MATCHROOM BOXING
Fri, 18 Apr 2025