By Jake Donovan
For the past several days, Giovanni Caro and his handlers have demanded advanced knowledge of the officiating crew for the fighter’s upcoming showdown with Fernando Montiel.
That answer came Wednesday afternoon. It remains to be seen whether Caro will be pleased with the results, or a case of be careful what you wish for.
Serving at ringside for the 12-round super bantamweight contest on Saturday evening in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico will be Omar Mintun, Francisco Flores and Antonio Ruiz. All three judges are from Mexico; Mintun is from Reynosa, while Flores and Ruiz are local officials from Ciudad Juarez.
The third man for the bout will be Rocky Burke from the United States.
Burke had an uncharacteristically off night in his handling of the first fight between Holly Holm and Anne Sophie Mathis last December. The bout took place in New Mexico, home to both Holm and Burke, and is best remembered for the frightening amount of punishment dished out by Mathis.
The reputation Burke carries is that of an official who lets the fighters fight. On this night, Burke allowed Holm to fight on for far too long, in addition to several blown calls throughout the contest. Holm was stopped in the 7th round, but went on to take a decision in the rematch six months later.
The chief concern from Caro and his promoter Hector Garcia was the generous treatment granted to Montiel in his last fight, also in Ciudad Juarez. The former three-division champ escaped with a controversial decision against Arturo Santos, whom Garcia also promotes.
Of the three officials for this Saturday’s contest, Flores is the only one to have also officiated that bout. He scored the contest 115-113 in favor of Santos.
Montiel and Caro have exchanged plenty of words through the media in the buildup to the fight. Caro took exception to Montiel’s jockeying for a future showdown with Abner Mares, to which the former champ retorted that his challenger needn’t worry about a lack of focus on his part for this fight.
Saturday’s bout airs live on Mexico Televisa as part of the network’s ‘Sabado de Corona’ series.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
