We need more referees like Keith Hughes

Who fights like Molina at 154? Everyone hits harder, But no one spoils like Carlos. He doesn't have to fight like him. Just needs to be a little faster with some pop in his punches. I see Ishida easily beating him again. I also see Cotto and Paul Williams easily beating him, just to name a few. I am sure there is a bunch of chumps out there they can put him in with, to try to make him look good in the mean time.

It doesn't really matter if Kirkland wins or looses to Molina. The next fighter he faces that has the skill of Molina but has some pop in his punches, Kirkland looses. Who fights like Molina at 154? Everyone hits harder, But no one spoils like Carlos.

It doesn't really matter if Kirkland wins or looses to Molina. The next fighter he faces that has the skill of Molina but has some pop in his punches, Kirkland looses.

Agreed holding as much as Molina did should be penalized. Take a point off and we get a totally different fight. Ref's need to re-learn the rule book.

Agreed holding as much as Molina did should be penalized. Take a point off and we get a totally different fight.

I approve this thread. If Kieth had reffed the Molina fight I bet things turn out a lot differently.

Anyone know if he was available last night?

true man, he let the fighters take centre stage and because of that we had such a good fight. i think there is an art to inside fighting and closing the distance and getting your shots off but some fighters push their luck and should be penalised. I agree...wouldnt have been the same if the ref didnt enforce that....kudos to the ref....

I thought he did a pretty piss poor job by staying on camera and in the way constantly. I also think the point deduction was unwarranted. It's not like Berto kept holding and holding without letting go. That's when the points should come off or he's constantly holding every two seconds without throwing. They were fighting their way out of the clinch and so it wasn't that bad. Berto wasn't holding like every two seconds. At least he warned him though before the point deductions

Ref put himself in a bad position by deducting so early. Berto continued to hold throughout the fight and if he were enforcing it the same way late as he was early another point would have been lost.

Ricky Hatton just PM'ed me and he wanted me to say to the thread starter to go "F*ck off" .

I thought the referee did a good job.

he should of took points from both make it a 9-9 round

yep, holding shouldnt be tolerated otherwise trainers will teach their boxers to hold instead of punching. you know berto's team taught him to hold instead fighting on the inside.

honestly, I like what the ref did too...it guarenteed a great fight. but at the same time, Berto was barely holding compared to other fighters. and that one point ended up playing a big part in the fight but at the end of the day, I want more refs like him. holding makes fights ugly and destroys infighting, which is often great to watch.

I definitely agree with the OP. He did what he had to do to keep it a boxing match and not a wrestling match. Although Collazo was holding as well, I agree with the Berto point deduction. He is pretty sharp he even caught Collazo trying to lure Berto into holding. A true pro effort by Hughes.

I don't know if that point deduction should have been giving so early, but I was happy he didn't get too involved and deducted even more towards the end. Especially since how close the fight was. You would rather see the fighters determine the outcome instead of having point deductions be the possible decider.

Solid ref. I was pleased with his work. I don't see him reffing a Hatton fight anytime soon.

I'm not a fan of taking points in championship fight unlesss its unavoidabe. This was avoidable.

No. I thought he was terrible. I thought he disrespected the fighters with some of the things he said. I did think the deduction was warranted however because of how obvious the holding was.