First things first. It’s not at all an easy job being a boxing referee. Often times, with just a second or two, perhaps less, afforded the third man in the ring when it comes to making what could be a hugely consequential decision, mistakes are bound to happen. Boxing referees are human, in case you didn’t know. However, fighters who risk so, so much each and every time they set foot in the ring, have THE toughest job of all. As such, the fighters should always be in the safest, most capable hands when they fight.
Which brings us to 67 year old Tony Weeks of Las Vegas, born in Brooklyn, New York.
Since just a few moments had passed after the ending of the fight Weeks called on Saturday night in Vegas, this between Vergil Ortiz Jr and Fredrick Lawson, there has been an ongoing call, in fact a demand, for Weeks to retire. Why? Twice, in pretty quick succession, Weeks was the man in the middle of what were widely seen as grossly premature stoppage calls. Back in May of last year, Weeks was widely criticised for having blown it big time in diving in to “save” Ismael Barroso from taking further punishment in his winning fight with Rolly Romero.
Barroso, who was ahead on all three score cards and who was stopped seconds after he had been pushed to the canvas (Weeks ruling the quite obvious shove a knockdown) – this when all of Romero’s fight-ending shots missed the target – was the subject of much sympathy. And Weeks was chastised quite badly.
One error can be accepted, but Weeks blew it again this past Saturday. Diving in to “save” a seemingly unhurt Lawson, who was defending himself and was aware of everything that was happening as Ortiz Jr poured in some shots as he was on the ropes, Weeks generated even more criticism, and calls for his retirement as a referee have been deafening.
Weeks later stated that he stopped the Ortiz-Lawson fight because he saw Lawson’s eyes roll into his head. Now, watching the stoppage on replay, it looks as though Weeks would not have been able to see Lawson’s eyes, so high were the losing fighter’s gloves, covering his face from both sides.
And then, in another controversial twist, Weeks claimed via a since deleted message on social media how he saw how Lawson’s pre-fight brain scan revealed an aneurysm. According to Weeks’ post, two of Lawson’s scans revealed a brain aneurysm before another doctor did the same scan and gave Lawson the all-clear to box.
Since Weeks’ post vanished, Eric Gomez of Golden Boy adamantly denied Weeks’ claim.
The calls for Weeks to retire have been coming and coming.
Just imagine how YOU would feel if you were Barroso last May or Lawson right now. Some fighters don’t get too many big-fight opportunities, and being the victim of a premature call can prove career-devastating.
“Tony Weeks needs to retire,” wrote Tom Gray on social media. “This (the Ortiz-Lawson stoppage) and the Rolly-Barroso gaff are unforgivable. These guys trained their guts out for weeks/months and then get ripped off by incompetent refs. Crazy.”
“Tony Weeks refereed the best fight ever in Corrales-Castillo 1 & they took mammoth punishment & Corrales down 2X in rd 10 19 years ago. He didn’t stop it,” wrote Dan Rafael on X. “Then he stopped #OrtizLawson for no reason in rd 1. This was worse than Rolly-Barroso. Time to retire, respectfully.”
“Ultra-quick stoppage by Tony Weeks – what was that? Vergil Ortiz buckled Lawson with a jab and flurried on the ropes as ref jumped in,” wrote Mike Coppinger. “Lots of booing in Vegas and not what Ortiz needed. Tony Weeks was also the ref in the premature stoppage last year between Rolly Romero and Ismael Barroso. Hard to defend either stoppage.”
You get the idea, and of course you have your own opinion on Weeks’ performance as the referee in both fights. Should Weeks retire? Can Weeks no longer cut it any longer? Should the job of boxing referee have a mandated retirement age, like other jobs?
Again, nobody is saying the job of a boxing ref is easy, but Tony Weeks does seem to be in the wrong job right now.
Agree or disagree?
