Casual talk from HOLLYWOOD, California – In this picture by Getty Images, Fernando Montiel, right, tries to get up off the mat as the referee counts in the second round during a WBO WBC bantamweight
title fight against Nonito “Filipino Flash” Donaire, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011, in Las Vegas. Donaire, Jr. was declared the winner by technical knockout in the second round.
The third man in the ring, Referee Russell Mora, has his second day as a subject of discussion and debate in the boxing forums.
Now, do not question Mora’s competence as a professional referee of boxing. He’s been in the business for more than two decades. He is as competent as any promoter could get for big fights.
But, is there any such thing as declining stage of performance for a third man in the ring?
Granting that Mora’s failure to assess promptly at first instance Montiel’s disturbing neurologic manifestation, as in brief partial seizure, is excusable, referring to the point when the latter fell to the canvas and eventually had pronounced involuntary twitching of his lower extremities, it was obvious that his focus at such moment would spawn legitimate questions. Mora spent the first 8 seconds instructing Donaire, Jr. to go to the neutral corner and to wait for his signal by hand,if not decision verbally. I mean, it’s all about 8 seconds of unremarkable judgment at such moment of notice, a tremendous, if not a horrific, delay of assessment upon the fatally fallen fighter.
Why spend 8 seconds for that segment? Was he trying to convince Donaire, Jr. to slow down the offensive?
Of course, not!
Was he watching a sneak preview of sexual act between the two hot chicks from Mars who came ahead of Eva Longoria and Nicole Kidman for the Presidents Day in the US?
Of course, not!
But, a surefire priority is to tell the successful attacker to hold off the offensive, which I think even a stupid professional boxer would normally do upon seeing his opponent struck down to the canvas – helpless in fact, like a crippled antelope hit by a lightning tooth.
Most improtant, 8 seconds without having to bother to assess the mental status of the fallen fighter, if not the physical manifestations of that big bang?
Alright! You may say no referee is perfect and that Mora can have lapses in his judgment.
How about his first eye witnessing power seeing the gross instability of Montiel’s gait after which he asked Montiel to step forward thrice & that Montiel was still unresponsive, as if on a standing knockout ?
And yet Mora instead moved forward and unilaterally held and shook Montiel’s hands as if forcibly compelling Montiel to continue to fight!
Was Montiel really conversationally oriented as to time, place and person at that critical moment?
How about Montiel’s eye movement? Any sign of disorientation?
What is sure was that, Montiel said in an interview after the fight: “I was not sure what happened to me at that moment when I rose up from the canvas.”
Or, was it just that Mora was insistent to give the brave heart of the Aztecs a hopeful segment to bounch back in a heroic fashion?
One thing is certain: Mora miscaluculated his acts under such expediency between life and potential death, if not much more injurious following.
Where off the critical segment of the event between the time of the impact of the crushing-counter left of Filipino Flash upon Montiel’s right temporal area and the point when he started counting did Mora create a well-balanced decision?
Was there any other factor that held him hostaged for such moment?
Where is now Mora’s glory?
Maybe, just maybe, he needs an 8-second ticket to heaven. At least for now.
Stay tuned for more!
