Steve Smoger was a disgrace and should be retired

[NachoMan]

He was a good ref in his day, but this guy clearly forgot what the third man's job is in a prize fight. Smoger was so shamelessly biased toward Bernard last night that Murat's team should file a complaint. It won't change the outcome, nor should it, but it might help keep Smoger's senile, star-struck ass out of any important fights in the future. How embarrassing was it to watch Smoger gush over and hug Bernard at fight's end?

[theproof]

I agree. he bullied murat by shoving him around a few times and never was in control of the fight. good thing it never got ugly n there. we need a new breed of refs picked by the fans.

[Doctor_Tenma]

It's Hopkins to tell you the truth, a lot of what Murat was doing was in retaliation. Hopkins was hitting him low when Smoger was blindsided, Hopkins is also an expert at hitting his opponents during the break...all without being seen. Yeah it's messed up but admittingly those are some of the things I admire about Hopkins, he knows how to get into his opponent's head. Not only is he tricky at fighting dirty, he's quick to play victim. That said I really enjoyed watching Hopkins, his reflexes have slowed considerably and I think sooner than later he's gonna end up getting hurt, maybe even seriously hurt.

[Guest]

I agree. he bullied murat by shoving him around a few times and never was in control of the fight. good thing it never got ugly n there. we need a new breed of refs picked by the fans.

Half the dudes on here would pick Smoger to ref every big fight since he lets them fight on the inside.

[Doctor_Tenma]

Half the dudes on here would pick Smoger to ref every big fight since he lets them fight on the inside.

I'm one of them, still the best ref in my opinion. Cortez is also a bit underrated, I know he's made some crazy mistakes but you actually need him when two fighters with absolutely no inside game keep getting tangled up, that's when Cortez is perfect.

[Russian Crushin]

Smoger's style is to stand back and let the 2 guys fight, but they took advantage and started doing dirty little things throughout the fight

[johnm is...]

Hopkins is a master of fighting dirty without getting caught.

[Weebler I]

It's Hopkins to tell you the truth, a lot of what Murat was doing was in retaliation. Hopkins was hitting him low when the Smoger was blindsided, Hopkins is also an expert at hitting his opponents during the break...all without being seen.

The problem I had with Smoger is that even when he did see it, he wasn't interested. It seemed like he had so much respect for Hopkins, that he lost sight of his own neutral position. I think Smoger is one of the best, but he didn't have a good night.

Talk of retirement is wide of the mark though. If we retired a fighter, ref or judge every time they had a bad night we'd have none left.

[BKM-2010]

The last thing wasn't uncalled for. Murat tried an Ortiz-esque jumping headbutt after the bell that ended the fight, right as Smoger was inbetween. I bet some butthurt refs may have dq'd him right there for that.

[Doctor_Tenma]

The problem I had with Smoger is that even when he did see it, he wasn't interested. It seemed like he had so much respect for Hopkins, that he lost sight of his own neutral position. I think Smoger is one of the best, but he didn't have a good night.

Talk of retirement is wide of the mark though. If we retired a fighter, ref or judge every time they had a bad night we'd have none left.

Murat was also lucky he didn't lose a point for swinging when Hopkins was down, I believe he threw two punches.