Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez. It?s a unanimous decision. Although they will fight for Marquez?s WBC title on March 15 in Las Vegas, the champ wants the fight to be ABC.
No, that?s not the TV network, it means Anybody But Cortez. It means that both the Marquez and Pacman camps are objecting to the possible assignment of 63-year-old veteran referee Joe Cortez.
It seems that Pacman?s camp and the Mexican?s camp agree that, as a third man, Cortez in unfair and infirm, just the opposite of what he tells the fighters just before the opening bell sounds.
I don?t rank Cortez, who has been a pro referee since 1976 and was a National Golden Gloves champion in 1963 and an 18-1 pro bantamweight, as one of the top three or four referees in the world.
But I think it?s fair to say that the man who has done 163 title bouts over 27 years is certainly in the first rank, somewhere among the 10 best in the world.
I hate to admit not being all-knowing but?I am sketchy on what the objections by Juan Ma and by the Pinoy really are. Maybe you, dear reader, can fill in the blanks.
I know he reffed their contentious first bout but scoring by judges was the controversy then, wasn’t it? I cannot recall anything untoward that Cortez did in that battle to scare away either Manny or Juan, let laone both of them.
Factual flashback to Pacman-Marquez I: “the scores, as in any close fight, will undoubtedly be cause for discussion over the coming week, with John Stewart scoring it 115-110 for Pacquiao, Guy Jutras giving 10 of the last 11 rounds to Marquez to have it 115-110 for the Mexican, and Burt Clements deadlocking it at 113-113.
Clements scored the first round 10-7, not 10-6 as did the other two judges, which is customary in a round in which three knockdowns are scored. A 10-6 first round for Pacquiao would have given the Philippine hero a split decision win. The draw allows Marquez to keep his WBA and IBF featherweight titles.”
Only other big bout I see Cortez being involved in with the principals is when he refereed Pacman’s March 19, 2005, decision over Erik Morales and I don’t recall any refereeing issue then either.
Neither champ nor challenger gets to pick the ref or the three judges. That will be done by the Nevada commission in consultation with Don Jose Sulaiman. Four Nevada officials make sense with a Mexican and Filipino fighting in Nevada.
Both camps are entitled to object some or all of the officials. If this is what it appears to be, a mutual objection, it would be foolish for Keith Kizer of the Nevada boxing board or any of his commissioners to shove Cortez down the throats of the two combatants. And I don?t think this will even be discussed.
Look, Cortez has made mistakes in various bouts. No one is spotless after 156 title bouts held in 11 countries.
But he?s gotten some bum raps over the years also. Criticism of his handling of the Ricky Hatton-Floyd Mayweather bout is ridiculous. That?s underlined by the fact that, despite all the crybabies in Hattonville, no one from Ricky?s camp filed any protest about the refereeing.
Mr. Fair But Firm also got a bum rap from touchy Bernard Hopkins who threatened to pull out of a $15 million payday (and, as it turned out, an easy fight) against Oscar de la Hoya because Cortez was going to be the ref. BHop said he thought Cortez held a grudge against him because he objected to him working his fight with Felix Trinidad on the sensible basis that Joe and Tito are both Puerto Ricans.
Joe Cortez is a damned good referee. And I find him to be damned good man. He and his family became wealthy in the worst possible way as a result of a terrible auto accident in 1996 which made his daughter a quadriplegic.
Yet I?ve never heard Cortez moan about the bad cards life has handed him. He remains an optimist and that is more of the measure of the man than his refereeing qualities could ever be.
I think both the Pacquiao and Marquez camps, not necessarily Juan and Manny, owe Cortez an explanation.
It?s one thing to object to an official. It?s another to deliver supporting evidence for the objection.
It may be there?but I don?t see it.
