Here’s To Referees in 2013
By Robert Brizel, Real Combat Media Correspondent
New York, NY (January 22, 2013)–Ricardo Vera, David Franciosi, and Steve Smoger are among my favorite referees in the professional boxing game today. As we all know, not all fighters make it out of the ring after they enter it. As a sports writer also licensed to work the corner and who occasionally does, I can tell you that from the extreme viewpoint of bucket man, no job in the world in sports today is as difficult as being a professional referee.
Sports cheating today is not limited to the Panama Lewis and Antonio Margaritos.
For starters, all over the world, athletes are using and functioning on steroids and HGH human growth hormones to unfair advantage, and will eventually pay a price which the late football great Lyle Alzado warned to refrain from, their own bodily harm which will kill them. Alzado failed in a comeback and died of a brain tumor from illegal steroid use, long before it was regulated to the extent it is today.
In the ring, fighters resort to head butting, hitting below the belt, throwing thumbs and elbows, kidney punches, rabbit punches and hitting behind the head, holding and hitting, holding the ropes and hitting, biting, spitting out the mouthpiece, wrestling, pushing, hitting their opponent on the floor, the list seems endless of ways to foul, cheat and fight to unfair advantage. The boxing referees deal with it all.
Then again, fighters in trouble are given every chance to succeed, and on occasion they do die or get seriously hurt, and like any sport with casualties, both fighters, referee, corner people, and family can take a tragic ending very personal and very hard. The referee must forge on, and not all can. All of which makes us think.
While a referee’s job is to insure the safety of the fighters in the ring, the referee must also be good enough to become invisible. Some referees are so good; you would have to concentrate on their presence to return their profile to the view screen. So being a referee is not just separating the two men, not just warning them or counting them out, being referee is an art of presence, and avoiding cameras.
Next time you watch a sporting event of any kind, professional or college or high school, be it boxing, football, basketball, soccer, tennis, golf, cricket, rugby, soccer, running, bicycling or whatever your fancy, take time out from the game and take a good look at hoe the officials have it. Fouls and penalties are but a part of the game referees and officials must deal with. From doctors to timekeepers to commissioners and more, officials have a great deal of responsibility. Let’s all acknowledge them for the wonderful job they job which allows us to enjoy the game, knowing they keep it safe.
In boxing, all of today’s referees deserve credit for the credit they bring to the sport.
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