…that honor now goes to new IBF bantamweight champ Abner Mares, who repeatedly dick-slugged Joseph Agbeko last night, low-blows The Cruelest Sports’ Carlos Acevedo writes were overlooked by referee Russell Mora, “with a stoicism that might have impressed Epictetus.”
Incompetence is usually the answer for most—but not all—of the riddles in boxing, but Russell Mora was a quantum leap removed from mere ineptitude. In fact, Mora was clearly biased in favor of Mares and, worse than that, seemed to enter the ring with a predetermined notion of what he was going to do. In the first two rounds alone, Mora warned Mares three times for shots below the belt. But he never bothered to deduct a point from Mares over the last 10 rounds of the fight even though Mares fouled repeatedly and with gusto.
Boxing history is full of unscrupulous referees. Perhaps most notoriously, Ad Wolgast was helped up to his feet by his own personal referee, Jack Welch, in 1912 after a double-knockdown scenario against Mexican Joe Rivers precipitated, ironically, by a low blow from Wolgast. More recently, the disgraceful actions of Isidro Rodriguez on behalf of Juan Coggi–including a long count–in 1993 have to be seen to be believed. But Mora was less obvious than the rascals of the past and seemed to be at the ready to play insurance for Mares if the opportunity arose. And Mora made sure to descend to the occasion once he saw his chance.