Critiques on Cortez from supposedly an unamed official....I agree...
From Gabriel Montoya's article from maxboxing.com which has a section offering insight from an un-named other official who states what SHOULD have happened:
http://www.maxboxing.com/news/main-l...ss-self-denied
“1) Joe Cortez had warned Ortiz previously about using his head.
2) Ortiz foul was not just a "butt" worth a one point deduction, it was a malicious, flagrant foul for use of the head as a weapon and intent to injure, even if unintentional and merited a two point deduction.
3) Cortez properly indicated time out after the foul of Ortiz by use of the "T" signal.
4) He properly took Ortiz’ hand and indicated to the judges, that he had deducted a point from Ortiz. I would have preferred that when scolding Ortiz, he would have calmly told him that he was being deducted points and any further such outrageous actions would result in disqualification. A referee in control should never show anger.
5) He now had the responsibility to check on the fouled fighter Mayweather to check on the extent of his injuries. As with any foul such as a low blow, Mayweather could have been give time to recover if the foul had done significant damage. What if Mayweather’s jaw would have been fractured and not just his mouth bloodied? Even if no injury is readily apparent, that referee MUST examine the fouled fighter. Cortez was so absorbed with admonishing Ortiz, he FAILED to examine the injured Floyd. Additionally, his time with Mayweather could also be very profitable if had engaged Mayweather in something like the following:
"Floyd, I understand you have been fouled. Do not retaliate or I will have to penalize you."
This is called in the business "preventative officiating." During this time an official also has a moment to slow down and collect his thoughts on how to diffuse a potentially dangerous moment where he could possibly lose control.
6) He then could have brought both fighters together in center ring, supervise the touching of gloves and again warn both participants that any further shenanigans will result in further punitive action. All would know the referee was in control of the contest.
7) After dealing with Ortiz, he did say "let’s go"’, indicating to the fighters that it was time to continue boxing, but he FAILED to communicate with the timekeeper.
8) The standard mechanic for resuming a boxing match after a time out is the verbal command "time in" concurrent with the rolling of the second finger to alert the timekeeper to restart his clock. If you have a time out, you must then have a time in.
9) The referee could momentarily, after his timer instruction, indicate to both fighters that it was now time to resume fisticuffs with the command "box". It would then be clear to all concerned that they now had the obligation "to protect themselves at all times."
10) To underscore that Cortez was the ultimate cause of allowing Mayweather to take advantage, was as Ortiz was being sent to dreamland, Cortez seemed to be preoccupied in conversation with the timer, something he should have taken care of before ordering the fight to continue.
11) I could not fully decipher Cortez’s words as he looked at the Nevada commission table, but it seemed to be either "Time?" or "Time-In?
This substantiates that Cortez wanted to know if the clock had been started, the clock stopped, or perhaps if he said "time?" , he had questions if the round had ended.
Thus if Cortez was not sure of the round’s time status, how could he expect the hyped up Ortiz to be aware? Fair but firm was not competent in my opinion.”
