Referees and their thankless task in boxing

Being a sports referee is a thankless task. No matter what you do someone will find something to complain about, even a perfectly officiated game will see some complaints about something small and pointless. Though when the referees job is to protect the participants and he makes an obvious and gigantic mistake they are incredibly open to criticism from every one. Ranging from fans, to those participating, and those around the sport, that's why the referee for last weekends “super fight” between Nonito Donaire and Fernando Montiel has been so openly slated.

The second round of the contest saw Montiel dropped hard by a beautiful Donaire counter, it was so severe that Montiel seemed not only unconscious when he hit the canvas but but appeared when he was down to have lost control of his body. His legs moved as if he was riding an invisible bicycle, his senses had been cut off and that should have signalled the end of the fight. Other bouts have seen fighters in a similar position throwing punches whilst on their back or twitching as the muscles and brain seem to get crossed signals. It was a credit to Montiel that he did manage to regain his feet though he was in no fit state at all to continue. The referee Russell Mora should have seen that Montiel, who had a glazed look in his eyes and was unable to raise his hands wasn't fit to continue though foolishly allowed the fight to continue.

Although Montiel had risen to his feet, that was more of a testament to his heart than his brain, his instinct had kicked in and forced him to his feet, he had no idea where he was or what was going in as Mora allowed Donaire to wade in on him and look for the finish. This wasn't a borderline call where fans would have been upset to see the fight waved off, it wouldn't have been declared a dodgy stoppage, it was a travesty to let it continue. Sadly the argument that it was a “world title fight” seems to have over-ruled common sense, common practise and the referees duty to protect Fernando Montiel.

We've seen poor stoppages worldwide and they are rightly criticised as they often ruin a fight due to the referee stepping in far too early. Fights like Lucas Martin Matthysse's TKO win over Vivian Harris were ended rather bizarrely, neither fighter appeared hurt and Harris had taken big punches prior to the stoppage and looked somewhat “dodgy”. You could argue the referee for that fight (Gelasio Perez Huerta) was protecting Harris but he didn't appear to need protecting as he was holding his own in the fight. Though in the case of Montiel and that of Enzo Maccarinelli when he faced Alexander Frenkel, the referee made ridiculously bad calls that could have ended in serious injury. These sorts of referees in boxing need filtering out before they cause a serious incident where a fighters life is decided in hospital.

Whilst accidents and injuries will happen in boxing, it's part and parcel of being punched in the head for a living. What we need though is for them to only be accidents, we need officials that will limit the risk of accidents and know when to step to step in and stop fights. The sport has a fine line between early stoppages and late stoppages, but the line is usually very visible and any qualified referee should start to see the difference between a fight that is borderline and a personal call and one that needs stopping or shouldn't be stopped.

The job of a referee may be thankless, but for those involved in sport like boxing, decisions that save lives is one we all thank. Thank you to referees like Steve Smoger and Kenny Bayless that allow the safety of the fighters not to take away from the contest and they draw a fine line between safety and giving a fighter a chance.

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