Who do you all think the best and worst referees in the world of boxing are now? (Note only the ones who referee in America cause I am pretty sure the concensus is that Europe doesnt have referees. those guys are just in the ring to take pictures lol)

Not in any specific order

Best Referees

1. Joe Cortez (I am fair but firm lol)
2. Tony Weeks



Worst Referees
1. Jay Nady ("stop it stop hitting each other, break watch your feet, break you guys are too close to each other someone could get hurt, break your gloves dont match dont fight again without matching gloves") this is the biggest *****cat of man I have ever seen.
2. Richard Steele


Cant think of any more

Mills Lane Greatest Of All Time !!!!

My favorite is Steve Smoger.

The ones I don't like are Jay Nady and Richard Steele.

I can't think of the last match I seen where Cortez was a prick so he's okay....I guess.

Joe Cortez is the best I've seen, never favors certain fighters in any way.. he's the guy who seems most interested in spotting any dirty tactics, he's the most alert, most focused, and he doesn't take no **** really.

Richard Steele I feel is the one who cares about the fighters health most maybe, he often seems to be struggling to hold himself back from stepping in and stopping it kind of like all the time. It so often seems like Steele wants to step in when a fighter is a little hurt but manages to hold himself back.

Cortez sucks...!

I personally dont like Richard Steele. I have seen to many fights where I feel he stops them prematurely. I like Jay Nady because he is fair in most areas and does not let any holding and grappling **** go on and for the most part keeps it clean.

Cortez sucks...!
I like both Steele and Cortez.

Don't care much for Cotton. He was selected for Lewis-Tyson, and did an uneven job, depsite the outcome. He doesn't know, and probably never will know, when to let guys mix-it-up. His fights are eventually turned into stop-start slow motion festivals.

Steve Smoger and Kenny Bayless are my two favorite refs right now. After that would be Cortez and Nady. Nady, if nothing else, doesn't let John Ruiz get away with his ILLEGAL holding and hitting so he's legit in my book.


I hate Richard Steele more than anybody in boxing besides Ray Leonard and its really only because of that Meldrick Taylor/Julio Cesar Chavez fight.

I have to agree with OldGRINGO , I saw that fight and stopping a fight at the end of the 12th round with the fighter getting ready to go to his corner is stupid . The fight was over . What really sad is what happened to Meldrink Taylor after that fight , the least they could have done was give him that win . He was gifted though Meldrick Taylor

All time fav. ref. Mills "Let's Get It On " Lane
Worst ref. Lawerence Cole.

Steve Smoger and Kenny Bayless are my two favorite refs right now. After that would be Cortez and Nady. Nady, if nothing else, doesn't let John Ruiz get away with his ILLEGAL holding and hitting so he's legit in my book.


I hate Richard Steele more than anybody in boxing besides Ray Leonard and its really only because of that Meldrick Taylor/Julio Cesar Chavez fight.

This may be a question for another thread, but just out of curiosity why do you hate Ray Leonard?

Mine are

Mills and Cortez

I am a fan of Richard Steele, Joe Cortez, Kenny Baylis, and Tony Weeks. The only one that I dont really like is Jay Nady, but I am not a huge fan of Steve "Smoger" Jones either...

I am a fan of Richard Steele, Joe Cortez, Kenny Baylis, and Tony Weeks. The only one that I dont really like is Jay Nady, but I am not a huge fan of Steve "Smoger" Jones either...

His lastname is Jones?

I think you have him confused with Steve "Snapper" Jones. The NBA guy.

I am pretty sure they are similar but both named Jones... Could be wrong though.

This may be a question for another thread, but just out of curiosity why do you hate Ray Leonard?


I appreciate that he was a great fighter, and I will give him a fair shake when analyzing his greatness, but he was such a snake. He just makes me think of one of those kids that is just always in the right place at the right time and knows how to weasel out of everything. I think he lost to Hagler and Hearns in their second fight, and I think he's just a fake mother****er in general. He's like one of those backstabbing wallstreet ****s who knows how to manipulate the system to their advantage.

Great fighter with excellent skills and a very entertaining style, but I hate the son of a *****.

I appreciate that he was a great fighter, and I will give him a fair shake when analyzing his greatness, but he was such a snake. He just makes me think of one of those kids that is just always in the right place at the right time and knows how to weasel out of everything. I think he lost to Hagler and Hearns in their second fight, and I think he's just a fake mother****er in general. He's like one of those backstabbing wallstreet ****s who knows how to manipulate the system to their advantage.

Great fighter with excellent skills and a very entertaining style, but I hate the son of a *****.

I can see people being frustrated by Sugar Ray, his whole press conference in the ring when he announced he was going to stay retired and not fight Hagler was a media circus and a joke. But you have to give him credit, Sugar Ray on the contender ranks in some of the highest unintentional comedy ever! "This was brought to you by Home Depot and Kaboom! That's what life is all about guys!" and "Joey Gilbert coming to the rescue of the west team again" both made me laugh uncontrollably.

fave are: lane and week

hate: steele and nady(shoulda never stopped the judah kostya fight)damn him...

Nady is the all time worst, the only time i ever want to see him ref a fight is when ruiz is fighting. he would, with out a doubt, stop ruiz from doing all that holding, and maybe dq him for it. other than that, he is the worst!!!!

as for good refs, i like...
weeks
bayless
mill lane ( of course )
mitch halpern r.i.p, he would have been the next mills lane too.

the referee for cotto-corley was terrible

"i expect a good clean fight, lets get it on"
mills lane

joe cortez is also very good

worst ref: richard steele, and the ref who called off the corely/cotto fight. i wanted to kill that referee with a spoon when that happened

best ref: joe cortez, stops fights at perfect times, big enough to handle HW's yet small enough to handle lower classes.

nady #2, respect for him for not backing down or flinching when zab punked him

bayless #3

All time fav. ref. Mills "Let's Get It On " Lane
Worst ref. Lawerence Cole.
mills lane for sure..i
hate cortez..

Mills ("Let's get it on!!!) Lane was a great ref. My choice, both for ability and longevity, would have to be Arthur Mercante Sr.

None of you mentioned my uncle. Blow me.

best is Bayless or Cortez

worst is Ismael Quinonez Falu

Frank Cappuccino !!

Frank Cappuccino !!
i was threading through all the others and had him in mind for his job with gatti ward 1 but you beat me to it homie..word up :)

i like weeks , cortez, nady is good too

Best Ref Jay Nady

Worst Ref Randy Newman

Best Ref Jay Nady

Worst Ref Randy Newman
what are some of his fights that were bad? i've seen him ref but im not sure which ones were bad i just watch the fight i rarely pay attention to the refs lol

worst ref is arthur mercante jr.

mills lane.he did alot of big fights and was really good and what he did. to bad he's in the state he is in now

steve smoger and frank cappuchino are the best, eddie cotton is the worst

smoger is my clear #1. he keeps his fights in-line, while being fair to both fighters.

i like raul caiz jr, as far as young refs go. he should be a good ref in the future.

The Worst Referee I seen was the one doing the Jones vs. Ajamu fight.

worst ref: richard steele, and the ref who called off the corely/cotto fight. i wanted to kill that referee with a spoon when that happened

best ref: joe cortez, stops fights at perfect times, big enough to handle HW's yet small enough to handle lower classes.

nady #2, respect for him for not backing down or flinching when zab punked him

bayless #3


Nady should have *****ed slapped Judah.

mills lane
arthur mercante jr
steve smoger
joe cortez
kenny bayliss

ive seen a ref stop the fight when the other fighter is clearly blocking all the punches and not dazed

Nady did a pretty terrible job in the Rahman/Maskaev II fight.

mills lane is the best for sure!!!

eddie cotton and joe cortez are also very good,

richard steele has shown his bias for don king fighter a few to man times