Yeah this is bad news for Ortiz as well as fight fans who are looking for a competently officiated fight. This is a very disappointing development.
I HAVE A DREAM: Just before the fight starts, as Cortez is about to start the standard "Gentlemen, youe received your instructions in the blah blah blah..." with the microphones on & the cameras rolling, ORTIZ CALLS CORTEZ OUT. Right there on international TV, he asks Joe if he's been paid off like in the past, if he's gonna' call BS holding like with Hatton, etc etc etc. - Just run down a laundry list of specific Cortez crimes. I mean, what could they do? Stop the fight? It's not illegal. Stop the broadcast? Oops, it's live. This would be a great moment in boxing history. - and **** Joe Cortez.
Nonsense. Cortez is a fine ref. He's one of the few like Smoger that will let the fighters fight until one starts breaking the rules. He reffed the first classic match between Azumah Nelson and Jeff Fenech and you hardly saw him all night.
It's funny, look how liberal he is with rough inside work in this first round, and the fight in general back in the day: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im8ZZvPbUPY[/ame]