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One of my readers, (a professional boxing referee / judge), stunned me with some good old-fashioned logic Monday night. He actually knew the rule that would cover the Foreman-Cotto situation which led to complete chaos in the ring, a premature ending and eventual re-start of the World Boxing Association Super Welterweight Championship from Yankee Stadium in front of 20,000 live fans and maybe over a million watching on HBO.
The referee used the five-minute rule (No. 13) to give Foreman time to recover. But that rule is only if an accidental low blow had been landed. That was not the case here.
Unfortunately, where referee Mercante was mistaken, is that deciding to give Foreman five minutes of rest (twice) under the actual circumstances is not a rule and not open for the referee's interpretation. He should have only given Foreman a standing eight count. If he didn't respond the fight should have been over at that point even if it would have been a bad ending for the fans, HBO and Foreman.
Here are the unified rules as provided by the Association of Boxing Commissions and we are talking about No. 13 specifically.
Basically, what it says is that while Foreman showed bravery by fighting with a serious injury, the real victim was actually Miguel Cotto!
Twice the referee, Arthur Mercante, Jr. stopped the fight to aid Foreman, thus negating the advantage that Cotto had forged. The rule clearly states that the action can only be stopped because of an accidental or intentional foul that would incapacitate the other boxer would be afforded the rest period.
If you look at the situation from the Cotto perspective, you would see a 180 degree turn of events.
Also, the tape would show Foreman didn't slip on water on the canvas. Actually his knee/ankle didn't move with the rest of his body, probably due to a pre-existing injury for which he was wearing a knee brace.
It would appear nobody knew the rule or had the courage to act on it according to this interpretation.
To me, I'm glad the right fighter won the fight in the end. As I often say, boxing is a sport of free-lance athletes and free-lance businessmen and it's hard enough to just get them in the ring in the first place so we can enjoy the action.
I'm proud of Cotto for being a good sportsman through it all also when it happened and in post fight interviews.
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