I remember watching Eddie Cotton Get robbed in his right with Jose Torres Whatever happened to him? I know Foster kod him. Is he still alive?
Hook, I always heard that Cotton had been robbed, so I found the fight on youtube earlier this year and scored it. I found it to be a very close fight. This is what I wrote at the time: Guys, I just scored another tough one. The Jose Torres v Eddie Cotton light heavyweight championship contest over 15 rounds. Good quality video, but man, it's like there were so many close rounds on what one is looking for. Here we go, Nevada's 5 point scoring system. Round 1: 5-4 Torres Round 2: 5-5 Even Round 3: 5-4 Torres Round 4: 5-4 Torres Round 5: 5-5 Even Round 6: 5-4 Cotton Round 7: 5-4 Cotton Round 8: 5-4 Torres Round 9: 5-4 Torres Round 10: 5-4 Cotton Round 11: 5-4 Torres Round 12: 5-5 Even Round 13: 5-4 Cotton Round 14: 5-5 Even Round 15: 5-4 Torres Total: 71-68 Torres Actual scores: 70-67, 68-67 and 69-67 all for Torres Cotton had a right to feel like he was jobbed - as he was 40 and had been in the game close to 20 years - but in reality, although a really good effort, I just think he needed to fight with more fire. Whether it wasn't in the tank or it simply wasn't his style, he just came up a bit shy on my score. But having said that, I did have 4 even rounds, which will tell you how close this fight was. I suppose I was more impressed with Torres' punching power in this case rather than the sort of soft-jabbing of Cotton. But Cotton was a canny sort and was good inside, so one has to weigh everything.
Reffed Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson among others. I knew I recognized the name but looking at his record I hadn’t seen him fight ... but this explains it. Sadly, he died a couple months ago of coronavirus: https://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/29049414/long-referee-eddie-cotton-dies-coronavirus
Eddie Cotton the boxer was not Eddie Cotton the referee. The boxer died in 1990. The referee died earlier this year.
That was a different Eddie Cotton. The one who fought Jose Torres and co was not the one refereeing fights in the 90s.
I thought that they were the same guy up until the referee passed and I realized he wasn't old enough to be the fighter.
Funny, I thought they were one and the same, but checked that the boxer died in '90. I kept thinking to myself, "I know the ref did a fight in the mid 90s (that I've seen)!"
Cotton the fighter was a journeyman back when that label was a compliment not an insult. He really knew his craft and could fight. He may not have been an all time great but those kind of guys are what make the greats great. They are the lifeblood of the sport.