?Don?t hit below the belt.? Referees must have stated those words millions of times over the years as they instructed the participants before the first bell sounded in a boxing match. Yet every time a fighter launches a body shot, there?s always the chance that the punch will stray onto or beneath the opponent?s beltline. It is the referee?s job to determine whether the questionable punch was inadvertent or deliberate, and to decide whether to issue a warning, take a point away from the offender, or disqualify him.
Unfortunately, low-blow controversies have dimmed the luster of a couple of recent high-profile contests. A few weeks ago, Amir Khan floored Zab Judah with a body shot. Judah was counted out, but afterward claimed that the finisher had landed in the forbidden zone. The referee disagreed. Replays were inconclusive. Khan?s punch may have landed at the beltline, in which case it?s up to the referee to decide if the blow is legal. Discord over the nature of the fight-winning blow detracted from what would otherwise have been a fine win for Khan.
This past Saturday, the low-blow bugaboo struck again. Abner Mares and Joseph Agbeko met in a contest to unify Agbeko?s IBF and Mares?s WBC Silver (don?t ask!) bantamweight titles. This is the type of fight boxing needs: the best fighting the best, despite the asinine antics of the Alphabet Boys.
Mares came away with a majority-decision win after 12 hard-fought, crowd-pleasing rounds of action. At least, the actions of the fighters pleased the crowd. The actions of referee Russell Mora? Not so much.
In the first round, Agbeko slipped to the canvas. Mora called it a knockdown. But it?s a ?knockdown? in the same sense as the one referee Kenny Bayless called on Manny Pacquiao during the 10th round of his bout with Shane Mosley earlier this year. It was a mistake, but didn?t affect the outcome of the fight, which Pacquiao won going away.
Of greater significance were the low blows Mares landed. Mora issued several warnings, but didn?t deduct any points from Mares. In the 11th round, Mares dropped Agbeko with a body shot. Many observers thought it landed too far south. Mora disagreed. Agbeko got up and finished the fight, losing by scores of 115-111 twice and 113-113. If Agbeko?s two trips to the canvas not been scored as knockdowns, and if points had been deducted from Mares for some of his low blows, Agbeko might have edged the verdict.
