Feb 03 2009
Cortez rejected by Marquez!
Veteran referee Joe Cortez’s involvement in the forthcoming Juan Manuel Marquez v Juan Diaz fight has been thrown into jeopardy as Marquez has rejected the use of the official.
Marquez is quoted as saying that Cortez is “the enemy for Mexican fighters” and the Mexican has been given assurances that Cortez will not feature.
Much of this ill feeling will stem for the disqualification of Humberto Soto against Francisco Lorenzo last year after he adjudged Soto had hit his opponent when he was down. Replays showed this was not the case and this is just one item in a series of questionable decisions from the veteran official.
Indeed, Cortez came in for some scathing criticism for his performance in the Ricky Hatton v Floyd Mayweather bout in that he was too quick to break up the clinches and even threatened to deduct points from both fighters at one stage.
It now appears that Cortez will not be involved in the bout, which will be popular with Mexican fight fans, who may agree with Marquez’s view of the referee’s treatment of Mexican fighters.
I’ll keep you posted!
