Was Joe Cortez the worst referee in the history of boxing?

Wyatt Earp probably holds the distinction of being known as the worst referee of all time after the highly disputed Bob Fitzsimmons-Jack Sharkey fight he officiated in San Francisco.

Sharkey went down from what he claimed was a low blow. Fitz claimed it was a legal body blow (solar plexus punch) and Earp ruled Fitzsimmons the winner. He had previously refereed some fights (legal or otherwise) under the London Prize Ring rules and this was his only one under the Marquis de Queensbury rule set.

Earp was basically run out of town. The verdict and ridicule of Earp went nationwide. Previous to this, Earp was known regionally for the gunfight in Tombstone but it had not been nationally publicized — more in Arizona and California. After the bout, Earp gained infamy for his refereeing and was painted as an outlaw gambler who possibly/probably took a bribe to fix the fight. There were scathing editorial cartoons and he became a household name for this long before his reputation as a gunfighter became widely known.

 

It's hard for anyone to top the Darwinian attitude of Ruby Goldstein.

Maybe Jersey Joe Walcott for sheer incompetence. Or Wyatt Earp for be corrupt enough that the BBBoC would probably take some form of action against him. But ultimately I don't think ****ing up the event or result is nearly as big as letting people take punches they shouldn't (which he did consistently), and getting someone killed.

 

He was pretty solid to begin with, from what I can recall. But, in the early '00s, he started to lose it a bit, in my opinion. 'Nice connections' probably kept him in the job a little longer than he should have been, but it wasn't much longer before he would retire, anyway.

 

Howard Foster also deserves mentioned here. A particular lowlight was his stoppage of Froch Vs Groves 1. Beyond the actual question on if it should have been stopped, the way he stopped it was horrible.

 

Didn't he ref the Tyson Douglas fight?

I thought he was quite fair in that one, despite the long count crying from team Tyson.

 

The Ottke ref, Earp, Walcott, the guy who allowed Ingo to keep walloping Machen, presumably Greggains...likely a few I missed. But those would be some of the contenders.

 

His fights are always a mess, I will say that about Cortez.

I think mercante Jr has some really bad performances too.

Tho to be fair to all of them a lot of these high profile guys will ref hundreds or thousands of amateur and pro fights. Everyone has some bad nights at work.

 

Gregains anybody?

 

richard steel but for one fight, the stoppage of taylor vs chavez with TWO seconds left!

 

Yes, he stopped Duran Joppy when Roberto had his guy in his sights!

 

Joe Cortez is an idiot. Every time I see the Tyson vs Holmes fight, I'm reminded how much of an idiot he is. Just watch as he jumps on Larry Holmes' chest after he gets knocked out by Tyson. Never mind that Holmes needs all the air he can get, and you have idiot Cortez practically sitting on his chest trying to T-bag him.

 

Arthur Mercante Jr was not as good as his legendary father, Arthur Mercante Sr who refereed the second Patterson vs Ingo title bout on June 20 1960. Mercante Sr also refereed The Fight Of The Century between challenger Muhammad Ali vs champion Joe Frazier on March 8 1971.

 

My two favorite referees were Arthur Mercante Sr and England's Harry Gibbs, both were no nonsense.

 

Cole is horrible

 

Who was the guy that refereed Ottke / Reid?

reid got warned for hitting ottke too hard.