"Test Your Boxing Knowledge Against Kenny Bayless, Pat Russell and Joe
Cortez: The Superstar Trio Leads the Learning at the Annual IPRO Conference"
By Jocelyn Saurini
 

Chances are, at least once in your life, you've been watching a boxing match and, after a boxing ref, medic or judge made a call, you turned to your buddy and said, "Do those officials know what they're talking about?" Then you took a drink of your beer, shook your head and explained how you would have done it differently.

But not only do ring officials know what they're talking about, the boxing officiating community is also extremely passionate about improving their skills and knowledge as often as possible. Last week, on June 29th and 30th, the International Professional Ring Officials Association (IPRO) gathered in Las Vegas for two days of training, honing of skills, testing and discussion of rules. For two solid days, over 100 officials from all over the nation worked together to ensure the consistent application of rules and officiating.

While there were many great moments, several of which are summarized at the end of this article, the consensus highlight was the opening presentation by referee superstars Kenny Bayless (14 years as a referee, most recently having refereed big fights such as Cintron/Margarito on the ESPN pay-per-view card and the Contender semi-finals), Joe Cortez (29 years as a referee, recently of McBride/Tyson and the Contender finale fight), and Pat Russell (Marquez/Vargas). These three experienced and knowledgeable officials presented ring scenarios in front of the group of IPRO officials and then explained the "by the rules" response to those scenarios, along with tips on keeping a smooth and controlled ring environment that protects the safety of both fighters. Read on to test your officiating knowledge against Kenny Bayless, Joe Cortez and Pat Russell and for a summary of other high points from the 2005 IPRO Convention.
 

• Scenario I: As two fighters are boxing, one of the fighters goes down. After the fighter goes down, the opposing fighter makes contact and hits him, causing a cut above the first fighter's eye from the late blow.  In this situation…
  
  1. What is the first thing the ring official must do in this case?
  The first thing the ring official must do in this case is determine the intent of the late hit or whether the late hit was the unavoidable contact of an unstoppable combination of punches. Because late hits can be so dangerous, this is a topic that should be clearly discussed with fighters in the dressing room before the fight and the decision of intent must generally lean towards an intentional foul.
  
  2. How should the round be scored?
  Pat Russell explains that the scoring is easy. The fighter who knocked the first fighter down should score a knockdown, thus deducting two points from the first fighter's score (the fighter who was knocked down). However, the fighter who landed the late hit should also have a two-point penalty scored for the foul of landing a late hit, thus deducting two points from his score as well. Therefore, the final score of the round should be a draw at 8-8.
  
  3. If the fighter who took the late hit is knocked out or otherwise injured because of the late hit, who wins the fight? If the fighter who took the late hit is knocked out or otherwise injured by the late hit, the fighter who landed the late hit loses on disqualification from the intentional foul.
  
  4. If the fighter who received the late hit is cut from the late hit and, at any point, cannot continue the fight due to the cut received from the late hit, who wins the fight? If the fighter who took the late hit and received a cut cannot continue the fight and is ahead on points at that time, the fighter who received the late hit will win by technical decision. If the fighter who took the late hit and received the cut cannot continue the fight because of the cut and is behind on points, the fight is called a technical draw.
   

• Scenario II: The bell rings and time is called. Both the Blue Fighter and the Red Fighter return to their corners. The Red Fighter has won the round. On the way back to the corners, the Blue Fighter makes an inappropriate taunting comment about the Red Fighter's family member. The Red Fighter retaliates by hitting the Blue Fighter even though the round is over and time has been called. How should this round be scored?
  
  You may be surprised, but Pat Russell explains that this round, too, should end up a draw score. The original score of the round would have been 10-9 Red, since the Red Fighter had won the round. However, after the Red Fighter throws and lands a punch while time is called, he must have two points deducted from his score as a penalty for the foul. That makes the score 9-8 Blue. You might think it's over, but (at least in the State of California) the referee can also deduct a point from the Blue Fighter's score for excessive verbal taunting before the punch (Rule 337-12, CCR). That makes the final score for the round a draw at 8-8.
   

• Scenario III: The Blue fighter is fighting in close to the Red Fighter. In an effort to tie up the Blue Fighter, the Red Fighter extends his arms and pushes the Blue Fighter's head downward. In the process of having his head pushed downward, the Blue Fighter continues to throw punches toward the Red Fighter's body, but because his head was being pushed downward at the time, the Blue Fighter lands a low blow. Was the low blow a foul?
  
  No. The low blow was not a foul and should not be scored as a foul as it was a result of the Red Fighter's intentional foul of pushing the Blue Fighter's head down. The ABC ruling on this is clear: If a fighter is injured while in the process of intentionally fouling the other fighter, the injuring blow is a fair hit. While the original intent of the rule was to discourage head-butting, it's application here is pretty straightforward.
   

• Scenario IV: During the course of a fight, the Red Fighter is hit while against the ropes and flies through the ropes and onto the floor below.  How long does the Red Fighter have to get back into the ring?
  
  According to Kenny Bayless, the fighter has 20 seconds or a "reasonable amount of time" to get back into the ring. The fighter is automatically given 20 seconds to get back into the ring. However, if the referee can see the fighter working to get back into the ring but being obstructed by people or objects on the floor, he can extend the time to whatever a "reasonable amount of time" is for the fighter to get back into the ring. It is key that the fighter's corner not try to help him in this process.

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Other IPRO Convention Highlights...

• What is the Purpose of a Referee?
  In his stirring kick-off speech to the convention, Joe Cortez summed up what the job of a referee is, and it was pretty simple. The job of a referee is to ensure that fighters don't take unnecessary punishment. As an example of this, Joe discussed a common situation where a fighter is clearly out cold and a ref can choose to finish a ten-count or just end the fight. Joe explained that, if referees are in unison in the goal of protecting fighters from unnecessary punishment, the ten-count should be cut short, medics called in immediately and the fight called. As Joe explained, "You can count to a hundred at that point, but the fight is still over. At that point, safety has to come first."
   

• Ever Wondered What a Referee Does in the Days Before a Big Fight?
  Kenny Bayless shared his pre-fight weekly pattern with the group. In the week before a big fight, he just spends days with other refs sitting around and talking through possible scenarios that could happen in a fight and how a referee should respond to those situations. This way, even if a rare situation happens, he's likely to have recently run through it in his head.
   

• Fighting Dirty with Miguel Gonzales...
  Former Lightweight Champion Miguel Gonzales made an appearance at the convention to demonstrate and discuss some of the "dirty" tactics fights may try to pull in a fight. Included in his demonstration were landing punches on the back of the opponents head (not too exciting, but apparently easily done if the ref is less than stellar). He also demonstrated a favorite technique of head-butting and then immediately following up with a hit. The purpose of that? Maybe you can confuse the referee into thinking that the cut, if any, happened from the hit and not the head butt. Similarly, if you're a fighter and you're really looking to get dirty, a popular trick is to hit with a left hook and just "follow through" with an elbow.
   

• Mixed Martial Arts: The Wave of the Future...
  Chances are you've seen Ultimate Fighting Championship on Spike TV and you're starting to get familiar with the stars of the league. After all, UFC is about to have even more television coverage than the WWE. Dana White of the UFC organization and UFC star Randy Courture spoke about this up and coming sport. If you haven't seen an episode or a fight, you may want to beef up your knowledge because UFC and mixed martial arts tournaments are outnumbering boxing events 5-1 in most urban centers these days.
   

The IPRO convention was a great step by boxing referees, medics and judges to ensure that they're performing to optimal capacity, and that's great for the boxing fan because it means we can count on consistent enforcement of rules across the board and officials who are on the top of their game professionally. So the next time you're sitting on the couch saying how you'd make a different call, take a moment and remember how truly professional ring professionals really are.

7-02-2005