WBC's Sulaiman Looks To Reprimand Donaire-Montiel Ref

[gusman]

from boxingscene

By Jhonny Gonzalez

The President of the he World Boxing Council (WBC), Jose Sulaiman, is planning to send a letter to the Nevada State Athletic Commission to reprimand referee Russell Mora, who worked last Saturday's fight between bantamweights Nonito Donaire and Fernando Montiel. The WBC will complain that Mora should have stopped the fight when Montiel was dropped in the second round, and instead exposed the fighter to suffering further injury by allowed the bout to continue for a moment longer.

"It was a fateful decision, a criminal act. Montiel was in a poor state and after telling him walk to it and he does not, and after asking him to raise his arms and he do not, he still allows him to continue," Sulaiman told Sal Rodriguez. "We are going to send a letter to the commission to put him (the referee) in training before placing him in another championship fight. We will object to this referee whenever we can."

[aquariusone]

from boxingscene

By Jhonny Gonzalez

The President of the he World Boxing Council (WBC), Jose Sulaiman, is planning to send a letter to the Nevada State Athletic Commission to reprimand referee Russell Mora, who worked last Saturday's fight between bantamweights Nonito Donaire and Fernando Montiel. The WBC will complain that Mora should have stopped the fight when Montiel was dropped in the second round, and instead exposed the fighter to suffering further injury by allowed the bout to continue for a moment longer.

"It was a fateful decision, a criminal act. Montiel was in a poor state and after telling him walk to it and he does not, and after asking him to raise his arms and he do not, he still allows him to continue," Sulaiman told Sal Rodriguez. "We are going to send a letter to the commission to put him (the referee) in training before placing him in another championship fight. We will object to this referee whenever we can."

Sulaiman's rant is called "grandstanding". It is always easy to second guess the 3rd man in the ring, especially after the fact. Referees are not infallible. They succumb to the greatest risk of making mistake - a millisecond loss of attention.

This is not to minimize the consequences of such error which could lead to permanent disability if not loss of life. Referees are there not only to be the arbiters of the match but also to protect the participants when they are clearly no longer able to defend themselves. Statistically, boxing greats are the most at risk: they train to raise their pain threshold to a much higher level; they hardly ever give up, even when they no longer have their senses. It is an automatic physical reaction.

Montiel was a good example. Clearly, when sustaining that hard shot that rocked his temple, he suffered an involuntary seizure. His twitching right leg gave ample evidence of that. A good referee who is familiar with such neurological condition would not have gone into the 8-count. He would have stopped the fight right then and there. Mora was distracted momentarily by showing Donaire the neutral corner. Mora's reaction to Montiel's condition was delayed by a few seconds by allowing the fight to continue and then halting it. He knew right then that he should have stopped the fight much sooner.

Sulaiman's public outburst and other back-seat commentators on this subject are simply grandstanding - looking for a few minutes of fame. Mora has been a referee for two decades. The guy is not perfect...but he is not a criminal like Sulaiman alleges.