Hall Of Shame Referee Screw Ups

[The Old LefHook]

A correction is in order regarding Mills Lane, in my opinion the best referee to ever enter a ring. Mills did not let Tyson/Holyfield I continue. Mills was for stopping the fight instantly, and he told Mark Ratner, the Nevada boxing commissioner. Ratner let the fight go on. It was his decision. Lane was against that, as can bee seen by his headshake at Ratner and in his own words. The whole thing is on tape. Watch and listen. Lane is exonerated of any wrong doing.

[- Ram Raid -]

A correction is in order regarding Mills Lane, in my opinion the best referee to ever enter a ring. Mills did not let Tyson/Holyfield I continue. Mills was for stopping the fight instantly, and he told Mark Ratner, the Nevada boxing commissioner. Ratner let the fight go on. It was his decision. Lane was against that, as can bee seen by his headshake at Ratner and in his own words. The whole thing is on tape. Watch and listen. Lane is exonerated of any wrong doing.

I agree Mills' initial judgement was for stopping the fight and that would have been the correct decision.

He decided against that though, one can only assume after bringing the magnitude of the fight to mind. Ratner didn't make the decision, he mearly asked Mills, "do you want to disqualify him?"

He evidently didn't. So he consulted the doctor who said Holyfield could continue and deducted two points instead. It was a bad call by Mills on the night. He buckled and was only really bailed out of being answerable for that by Tyson repeating the offense.

A normally stellar referee and also one of my favourites but he had a bad night at the office on that occasion.

On I side note. I've watched both a British and an American broadcast but neither seem to show what you've indicated. A point in the right direction would be much appreciated.

[Deontaytheking]

Steele in Chavez Taylor was a good mention.

[Combat Talk Radio]

I'm stunned at the standout ones not mentioned.

Bowe/Golota - Wayne Kelly. HE is the reason that riot happened allowing Golota to low blow THAT many times in the fight before he DQ'd.

Clinchko/Povetkin - Luis Pabon. I don't care if it's the heavyweight division, come on now.

Mayweather/Castillo 1 - Vic Drakulich. His legacy is forever attached to Larry Merchant screaming bloody murder over Vic's constant breaking when the two got in the pocket. "Nobody paid to see this referee!"

Canelo/Angulo - Tony Weeks. I'm sorry, that stoppage was a joke even IF Angulo was losing. Let him fight until the end, he wasn't even staggered.

Mayweather/Maidana 1 - Tony Weeks. He let Chino do all sorts of dirty cheating.

Lomachenko/Salido - Laurence Cole. Clearly inspired by Wayne Kelly, letting Salido do whatever he wanted in there.

Bradley/Vargas - Pat Russell. Refs hearing bells that aren't there...



And just to be fair, over on the MMA side, gotta give a special shot out to Dan Miragliotta for this business. He was worse than Herb Dean, seriously

[WalkerSmithJnr]

LEWIS vs MCCall ......LEWIS was up at the 6 count...Lewis was a little hurt but was not given the chance to defend himself as a champion..which I thnk every champion should have...the ref waived it off without even giving him the full 8 count....McCall was a don king fighter and LEWIS was literally frozen out for over 2 years and lewis went to the WBC convention in Mexico to petition for a rematch and all he saw was Don king arm d****d over the refs shoulder the whole night...proper skullduggery going on

Agree with bits of this, Don King certainly had too much influence and he did try and freeze Lewis out.
I also agree a fighter should be given every chance especially the champion but I think the stoppage was fair, Lewis was gone. I don't like over fussy refs but they have to protect fighters from theirselves at times.

[The plunger man]

Well there's been a lot worse than that.....and we nearly don't know how good Lewis was at recovering pretty quickly as he wasn't given a chance...he might have grabbed him and rode the storm out....I personally think another 5 would not have hurt...he hadn't taken punishment at all and it was not a prolonged beating....so I think he should have been given a bit more time

[The plunger man]

Agree with bits of this, Don King certainly had too much influence and he did try and freeze Lewis out.
I also agree a fighter should be given every chance especially the champion but I think the stoppage was fair, Lewis was gone. I don't like over fussy refs but they have to protect fighters from theirselves at times.

Well there's been a lot worse than that.....and we really don't know how good Lewis was at recovering ..maybe he recovers pretty quickly but he wasn't given a chance...he might have grabbed him and rode the storm out....I personally think another 5 seconds would not have hurt...he hadn't taken punishment at all and it was not a prolonged beating....so I think he should have been given a bit more time

[WalkerSmithJnr]

Well there's been a lot worse than that.....and we nearly don't know how good Lewis was at recovering pretty quickly as he wasn't given a chance...he might have grabbed him and rode the storm out....I personally think another 5 would not have hurt...he hadn't taken punishment at all and it was not a prolonged beating....so I think he should have been given a bit more time

Certainly been a lot worse.
Difficult call for the refs sometimes especially with flash knock downs.
Main thing is they have to judge whether the fighter can defend their self and I don't think Lewis could.
Saying that I can't believe Holmes carried on after Shavers pole axed him so I don't envy the referees calling them.
Might have been a recent ring death or serious injury at that time that can often effect how quick refs jump in

[Anthony342]

I've rehashed that fight a number of times with different posters over the years and I still believe it was the right call. The fight isn't over till the final bell and Taylor couldn't or wouldn't respond to Steele. I was rooting for Taylor in that fight, but it wasn't the stoppage that ruined him, it Was JCC's fists.

And Taylor not moving enough, being too much of a Philadelphia style fighter. Reminds me of Ron Borges on that Legendary Nights episode where he says Taylor deserved those extra 2 seconds, but later asks should they have stopped the fight and says yes, because of how Taylor looked, showing a strong argument could be made either way. And whatever someone's view, that's one hell of a great fight.

I always thought it was kind of funny that Steele gave Chavez that gift, as Chavez himself called it (although I believe he said gift from God), but then was also the ref that took two points away in Chavez's first fight with Randall for low blows, giving Randall the decision by one point on one judge's scorecard and a split decision win, so Steele taketh away as well.

[Anthony342]

I agree Mills' initial judgement was for stopping the fight and that would have been the correct decision.

He decided against that though, one can only assume after bringing the magnitude of the fight to mind. Ratner didn't make the decision, he mearly asked Mills, "do you want to disqualify him?"

He evidently didn't. So he consulted the doctor who said Holyfield could continue and deducted two points instead. It was a bad call by Mills on the night. He buckled and was only really bailed out of being answerable for that by Tyson repeating the offense.

A normally stellar referee and also one of my favourites but he had a bad night at the office on that occasion.

On I side note. I've watched both a British and an American broadcast but neither seem to show what you've indicated. A point in the right direction would be much appreciated.

I thought Mills let the fight continue because Holyfield wanted to fight on. No? I remember Evander saying afterwards how angry he was and wanted to fight Tyson some more after that and hurt him bad for getting bit by him.