LEO “OUTRAGED” COLE WORKED ON HBO!
Ogdensburg, NY?I am aghast that I saw Laurence Cole as the referee in an HBO televised boxing match only two weeks after his stunning statement to Juan Manuel Marquez (46-3-1, 14 KOs). For those not aware, on November 25, 2006 in the Dodge Arena, located in Hidalgo, Texas, Cole purposefully told Marquez he was ahead on the scorecards after Marquez had suffered a cut from what had been ruled an accidental head butt. This had no discernible purpose beyond insuring Marquez that if he chose to quit he would win the match against Jimrex Jaca (27-3-1, 12 KOs). To the extreme credit of Marquez he chose to ignore the remark of Mr. Cole, continued to fight, and handily won a hard fought bout from a surprisingly game Jaca. It seems the favored boxer, Juan Manuel Marquez, had a much higher degree of integrity than did the referee.
FAVORITISM (AKA BULLSPIT) ALIVE AND WELL
To make such a statement by the person being paid to perform the duty of keeping the match a fair and equitable contest is reprehensible. For reasons known only to him, the referee obviously chose to favor Marquez over Jaca. Everybody watching that fight on HBO television quite easily heard him make the statement. When questioned by Pedro Fernandez as to his motive he offered that he had no defense, but had ?screwed up, and expected to be suspended.? I assume he meant that he had screwed up by allowing himself to be overheard by millions of people.
AGAIN, WHY DID COLE GET GIG?
Obviously, in the Texas Dept. of Licensing & Regulating (run by Dickie Cole the father of Laurence), the degree of the infraction was thought to be much less than what Laurence thought it was. Instead of being immediately suspended, he was awarded another prestigious and lucrative gig as referee of the HBO televised Andre Berto (16-0-0, 14 KOs) versus Miguel Figueroa (24-6-2, 14 KOs) match this past Saturday, December 9, 2006, on the undercard of the Jermain Taylor (26-0-1, 17 KOs) versus Kassim Ouma (25-3-1, 15 KOs) middleweight scrap.
POLITE MESSAGE FOR DADDY COLE
Dickie Cole must realize the public wants honest, willing, and able referees and judges to officiate fights whether they be in Texas, or Texas officials traveling to other areas. Mr. Cole, need I tell you it is your responsibility to train and shepherd your Texas officials, whether they be your son or otherwise? Why you didn?t prevent your son from working in Arkansas is a problem. Perception is everything, and this does nothing to make you or Texas be perceived in anything less than a negative light.
WHO GAVE “CHARGED” REF HBO ASSIGNMENT?
Once we get past the problem of a Texas official being partial to a particular boxer, and once we get by the nepotism involved in allowing the same official to continue officiating with no discernible repercussion for the infraction, who was the brilliant person who gave him this assignment only two weeks later?
ARKANSAS HAS NO BOXING COMMISSION!
How did that person determine this was the best man possible for this match? Was this based upon his most recent history? As a boxer is no better than his most recent fight, so too is a boxing official no better than his most recent fight. Do you believe being partial to one fighter in a match makes an official the best qualified person for the next big gig to come along?
WHY DID HBO ALLOW COLE ON THE AIR?
Once we get by those small details, why did HBO not refuse to televise a match with a referee known to be partial? Is this the best possible programming that HBO can provide their fan base? Do HBO?s Sports CEO, Ross Greenburg and underlings, do they not care what is being presented to boxing fans? Is there a ?Who cares? attitude? The boxing fans are so stupid they won?t know the difference anyway.? Let me assure you, I, for one, care about fair and honest officiating, and we shall see from any possible comments to this article what others think about this crass attitude toward those who think honesty, or the perception of honesty, is not valuable any more.
DO I ALONE FEEL SAD FOR BOXING?
It always seems to come back to the same old thing. There is no one to police the business of boxing. I repeat that the entire world needs an organization to control all things that concern boxing. The Association of Boxing Commissions has no power in that the affected official is not even certified by that organization to be a referee. Obviously the one-year suspension that was imposed this week by Texas authorities was warranted. But if an NFL referee ever pulled something similar to what Cole did, do you think he?d be working a ?prime? assignment on TV? Hardly, he at the least would have been put on ?paid? leave until a hearing on his actions could be held.
