Referee Arthur Mercante Jr. Defends Actions in Cotto vs. Foreman Fight
Even as he received criticism from some boxing writers and fans for ignoring the towel thrown into the ring to stop Yuri Foreman’s bout against Miguel Cotto at Yankee Stadium on Saturday night, referee Arthur Mercante Jr. is sticking by his guns that he did the right thing. He told boxing journalist BoxingScene.com that he felt he made the right decision in letting Foreman continue despite injuring his knee in the seventh round.
Foreman would lose the fight in the ninth round after being felled by a huge body shot from Cotto, but not before one of the strangest scenes in recent boxing history. In the eighth round, a towel came flying into the ring from the direction of Foreman’s corner after it was clear that the champion’s knee was badly hurt, sapping him of his trademark mobility. The white towel being thrown into the ring is traditionally the sign that a fighter’s trainer has seen enough and wants the fight finished.
The scene quickly devolved into chaos, as people rushed into the ring. Cotto began celebrating his victory while a dejected Foreman expressed his anger at the decision. The only person who didn’t think the fight was over, though, was the person whose opinion mattered the most - Mercante Jr. According to New York boxing regulations, the corner cannot stop a fight by throwing in the towel - only a referee can stop a fight during a round. And Mercante Jr. felt that Foreman was not in immediate danger (he hadn’t been hurt by a punch) and decided to let the fight continue.
It was announced that the towel had been thrown in by an “outside party” (although replays showed that it clearly came from Foreman’s corner) and the ring was cleared so that the fight could continue. Foreman gave a gutty performance for the next two rounds, but it was clear that he was wounded prey and a sitting target for the powerful, experienced Cotto. Mercante Jr. didn’t hesitate to stop the fight after Foreman was brought to his knees by a powerful body blow, calling an official halt to the contest almost before Foreman sank to the floor.
Mercante Jr. said that he was unaware about who threw in the towel, so his first instinct was to clear the ring and attempt to sort things out. He went to Foreman and asked him if he wanted to continue, and he said that he did. Foreman backed up Mercante Jr.’s assertion about how the bizarre incident played out and asserted that he felt Mercante Jr. did the right thing. Mercante Jr. said that he didn’t want to cause Foreman to lose his belt on a disqualification (which would have been the ruling if a towel had been thrown in) and he wanted to give the champion every opportunity to defend the title.
While some people criticized Mercante Jr. for failing to adhere to the wishes of Foreman’s corner or not realizing this his trainer was the person who threw in the towel, the majority of the post-fight coverage has praised Mercante Jr. (the son of the legendary referee Arthur Mercante Sr.) for how he handled the strange situation. Most observers felt that if Foreman was willing to try and gut it out on one leg, then Mercante Jr. owed him the right to keep fighting until it was clear that he was in danger.
Certainly, the historical nature of the fight had to have played a role in Mercante Jr.’s decision to let the fight continue. If this had been a bout in Atlantic City or even Madison Square Garden, it’s possible that Mercante Jr. would have stopped the fight in the eighth round. But the fact that it was the first bout at the new Yankee Stadium and a showcase for boxing must have given Mercante Jr. the impetus needed to try and bring the fight to a full conclusion.
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