“I think Russell Mora is a very good referee, who did a subpar job last Saturday”…”I will fight Mayweather next year”…all recent comments made by some of the biggest names in the sport. Looking back at this week’s key quotes of note, Boxing Scribe Vivek Wallace offers his own unique perspective, giving fight fans “a little something to think about”. Check it out!
“Don King Promotions never requested that Mora be removed. Dana Jamison (SVP Boxing Operations – DKP) called me about eight days before the bout and said Don King had been told by someone that Mora was a Golden Boy ref. Like most, I think Russell Mora is a very good referee, who did a subpar job last Saturday.” – NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer speaking to Bad Left Hook about the controversy surrounding Russell Mora
Perspective: Legend has it that hindsight is 20/20, and as we look in that proverbial rear-view mirror, without question this tip handed off by Dana Jamison to NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer holds more weight than many would have liked to know. It’s one thing to hear underground rumors of officials and judges being tipped off to give leverage to a particular fighter or promoter, but the actions of referee Russell Mora last Saturday night seemed to give a newfound credibility to a form of chatter that many naive fans and media surrounding the sport once refused to believe was possible. It should be duly noted that this is NOT an indictment on Mora, validated with unquestionable proof, however, it is a total condemnation on the acts of a man who showed zero accountability and even less integrity.
The most disturbing thing about the aftermath of this scenario was hearing Mora state publicly that the punches were not low, only seconds after watching video footage which clearly proved otherwise. Never in the history of my life have I ever witnessed a more integrity-lacking moment, and neither did I ever think such a thing was possible in any world of sports. It was nothing short of criminal to see continuous low blows deliberate enough to render warnings, but no subsequent point deductions. Think about this, Mora stated that they were clean punches and didn’t rate any deduction of points, yet continued to issue warnings. When a fighter gets punched in the chest, there’s no warnings because it’s a legal shot. When a fighter gets punched in the face, there’s no warning because it’s a legal shot. Something about those punches made him issue warnings. Common since tells me it had everything to do with the fact that they weren’t clean punches, yet they never resulted in a deduction of points. How is that possible?
