06.03.06 – By Wray Edwards: That depends on who’s fighting and their respective styles. In a fight where two boxers pretty much stand off and blaze away (Trinidad/Mayorga), the Ref’s job is reduced to watching for low blows, stepping in at the bell, and safety concerns should one of the fighters begin to fade. Injury assessment in conference with the ring physician, Vaseline patrol, and eight counts pretty much define the job.
In a fight where there is a great difference of styles, say between a slug and hug fighter and classical boxer, or two jab and grab guys (God forbid!), the Ref needs serious triceps to enforce endless separations as he pries them apart. IMO JEFF LACY WAS VERY LUCKY THAT JOE CORTEZ WAS NOT THE REFEREE LAST NIGHT. Here’s why..
It just so happened that this weekend was a mega-boxing extravaganza including a Shaw promoted Championship Flyweight event in Santa Ynez, CA., the Calzaghe-Lacy blowout in Manchester, the Cotto-Branco thing in Puerto Rico, and the replay of last weekend’s Fernando Vargas – Shane Mosley PPV from Mandalay Bay. While watching Mosley-Vargas one could not help but notice the vast difference in Ref styles between Raul Caiz (Calzaghe-Lacy) and Joe Cortez (Vargas-Mosley).
A discussion of the difference between “tying up”, “holding” and “clinching” might become so esoteric as to approach debates about the angelic populations of pin-heads. Let’s just say that holding on (in any way) without punching for more than two seconds is wrestling…not boxing. That is obviously the opinion of Joe Cortez. He was relentless and severe in not allowing Fernando to clinch after he had moved in on Shane. Most will agree that Mosley is more of a stand-off boxer than Vargas.
If it hadn’t been for Cortez’ immediate authority to terminate the slightest hook-up, the total punches thrown in the contest would have been halved or less. This played more into Mosley’s style which requires more room to unleash the dangerous right that finally turned Vargas’ left eye into a grotesque replica of Joseph Merrick’s (The Elephant Man) countenance. Cortez also demonstrated that one does not have to be as big as Jay Nady to exercise decisive and effective authority in the ring.
By contrast, Raul Caiz was far less involved and authoritarian during the Lacy-Calzaghe contest. He gave a few of the usual warnings about low blows and head butts, as well as a one point deduction when Calzaghe was finally tempted to make a transition from his oft used arm-lock to an outright, blatant head-lock on Jeff. To that point Raul had been content to stand back and calmly watch Joe test the limits of the difference between wrestling and Boxing (see description of the arm-lock used by Joe in paragraphs two and three of this writer’s previous offering entitled “It Was All About Hand Speed”).
Every time Joe used the hold, it was amazing how crafty it was, and how effective it was in tying Lacy up and tiring him down. A quick review of a friend’s tape (remember we erased all but one round of ours) revealed its use some sixty-odd times during the fight. Many boxers know how to take advantage of the fringes of the rules. Much goes on between the fighters on their opposite sides from where the Ref is standing. These observations are in no way meant to detract from Joe’s amazing demonstration of Boxing skills and well-deserved victory.
Izyaslav “Slava” Koza in his excellent article entitled “Calzaghe really ‘Old Schooled’ Lacy”, touched on Raul’s reluctance to tighten the definition of holding, and Lacy’s inability, or ignorance of how, to counter the tactic. That might have been a blessing in disguise for Jeff. If Raul had so assiduously separated Calzaghe and Lacy as Joe Cortez separated Fernando and Shane during their fight, Jeff might have been knocked out.
Consider now what would most likely have happened. Though there was some tussle-punching by both fighters during each of Calzaghe’s grapples, Joe was not at his optimum damage-dealing range when so entangled. It was when they separated that Calzaghe astoundingly blitzed Jeff about the head and shoulders. Considering the accumulated down-time as a result of Caiz’ proclivity to allow the old arm-in-arm ploy, it was principally during those intervals that Lacy was not being pummeled.
A quick accounting of the lock-up sessions (most of which were Joe’s tactical answers to Jeff’s inside rushes) reveals roughly eight minutes during which Calzaghe was not free to fire at will, and Lacy was not at optimum range to be blasted by Joe’s beaters. If Jeff had been exposed to even more punishment had he twisted away, or been un-trapped from Joe’s clever clinches by the likes of Joe Cortez, he might not have made it to the end. He was perilously close to going down from withering punches several times, and another five or six minutes of Calzaghe free to whip up on him might have been the nail.
Much is made of the judgment of Referees when they wave a fight off. The contrasts are amazing. Case in point being Joe Cortez’ intolerance of Vargas and Mosley clinching (or even just leaning on each other for a bit-o-rest), while showing scary patience with Shane’s ripping blasts at the blood balloon into which the left side of Fernando’s face had turned.
Many Referees in Europe and America have been caught with their surgical gloves in the bias cookie jar. It doesn’t take much tampering to greatly affect the outcome of a boxing match. Boxers like Bernard Hopkins (elbows) Joel Casamayor (shoulders) J.L. Castillo (kidney punches) and others know tricks of the trade which stretch the rules and they also keep pretty good mental notes on what Referees will allow certain latitudes.
Pushing down on a boxers arms and back of the neck, holding and hitting, cuffing (Calzaghe), and the drop-hammer punches of Glen Johnson are all examples of habits or designs intended to give a crucial edge in close matches. When all is said and done, the most blatantly abused and allowed tactic is holding of some kind. It is done for several reasons.
After getting clocked pretty good a boxer will hold on to get his head clear. Some commentators will praise this as a “savvy” or “smart”…a way to survive. Not here. If you get whacked you may not hug your way to recovery. It is an insult to the sport and unfair to your opponent. You are also not allowed to blast someone and then grab them until the Ref comes to give you a safe break thus preventing your opponent from countering.
Guys like Steve Smoger, Richard Steele (retired?), Joe Cortez, Marty Denkin, Kenny Bayless, Mills Lane, Jerry Roth, Bill Clancy and others have a great responsibility to ensure the safety of the sport while at the same time allowing for the most powerful expression of its attributes…namely: mobility, co-ordination and impact violence. Their responsibilities are by nature paradoxical. Boxing safety is, of course, a relative oxymoron. They also must preserve its tactical purity by not allowing actions which are appropriate in other sports (kicking, elbowing, wrestling, pushing, biting and other goofy attempts to gain unfair advantage.
Every sport has rules which are intended preserve the essential mechanics of the entertainment. The mentors of Boxing would be well advised to curtail inappropriate practices, such as holding, by promulgating more detailed rules about what it is and is not. Otherwise we will continue to have the highly questionable differences such as we just witnessed between Joe Cortez and Raul Caiz. We will also continue to be forced to endure the likes of John Ruiz when he is allowed to endlessly grapple with impunity and without consequences.
Would we rather watch Calzaghe, Wright, Mayweather and others up on their toes zipping glorious combinations, or arm-locked in flat-footed doldrums? Hitting and not getting hit is the sport, but not getting hit does not mean hanging on for dear life to clear ones head, or to prevent the other guy from his right to punch away. Those who refer to holding on as acceptable, “professional”, or “just what he needs to do at this point” (Manny Steward) degrade the sport, and tempt its fans to consider such nonsense as acceptable, which it is most emphatically not.
The men who hold Boxing in the palms of their hands, at its most crucial moments, are the Referees. They ARE the Gods of the ring who are charged with the awesome responsibility of ensuring safety and fair play in a life-and-death blood sport. More can and should be done to improve consistent enforcement of the rules and practices. That would be yet another way to speed Boxing’s return to prominence in the public eye. See you at the fights.