Questionable characters assigned for fight

MANILA, Philippines –  The referee who ruled a knockdown on Manny Pacquiao in the first Marco Antonio Barrera fight in 2003 when it was clearly a slip will be the third man in the ring for the Filipino icon’s bout against Antonio Margarito at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, this morning (Manila time).

Laurence Cole, 47, was chastised by fans for the grave error that marked only the fifth time in Pacquiao’s career that he took a count after Rustico Torrecampo, Medgeon 3-K Battery, Nedal Hussein and Serikzhan Yeshmagambetov. Cole later mistook a Barrera knockdown for a slip and vice versa in the same fight in San Antonio.

Cole was also blasted in media for advising Juan Manuel Marquez that he was ahead on points as the Mexican’s cut was examined by a ringside physician in the fight against Filipino Jimrex Jaca in 2006 and for indecisiveness in ruling if a cut was inflicted by a butt or a punch in another match.

Last March, Cole was castigated for gross incompetence in working the Andre Dirrell-Arthur Abraham bout in Detroit. Dirrell was clearly floored in the 10th round but Cole called it a slip. And in the 11th, Cole disqualified Abraham for hitting Dirrell while he was down on one knee.

Cole, who owns an insurance agency, often is tapped to work big fights in Texas where he is from. His father Dickie is known to be an official with the Texas State Boxing Commission.

Manny Pacquiao in training at the Elorde Gym at Quezon City. JUN MENDOZA

In 1994, Cole was the referee in IBF bantamweight champion Orlando Canizales’ fifth round stoppage of Filipino Rolando Bohol in Texas. He also worked Luisito Espinosa’s win by technical decision over Juan Carlos Ramirez in 1998 and Espinosa’s loss to Cesar Soto the next year. Cole has been the referee in bouts involving Evander Holyfield, Guty Espadas Jr. and Bernabe Concepcion. He worked Filipino Richie Mepranum’s win by decision over Hernan Marquez last March.

Bohol said Cole won’t be a problem in the Pacquiao-Margarito fight. “I rate him as a good ref during my time,” he said. “I think he will be fair and consistent during the course of the fight.”

Two judges who worked with Cole in the first Pacquiao-Barrera outing are assigned to the Margarito bout. Gale Van Hoy, 76, and Glen Rick Crocker are two of the three judges in the panel. The other is former German heavyweight fghter Juergen Langos.

Van Hoy scored it 97-89 and Crocker 97-90 when Pacquiao stopped Barrera in the 11th round.

Because of Van Hoy’s age, fans are wondering if he can still follow the action in the ring to turn in a credible scorecard. He’s been a judge for nearly 20 years. Crocker has only a handful of world title fights in his resume and may not be able to cope with the pressure of a high-profile bout.

Langos was once described as “myopic” by well-known boxing writer Michael Marley. Last June, he was lambasted in media for his 120-108 scorecard in Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.’s win on points over John Duddy to capture the WBC silver middleweight crown. The two other judges didn’t see it a shutout. Julie Lederman had it, 117-111, and Crocker, 116-112.

“The WBC needs to leave this cat in Germany because he is deficient,” wrote Marley. “Langos is so far off base as to not even be in the ballpark.” Last year, Langos was a judge in the late Edwin Valero’s second round knockout win over Antonio Pitalua for the WBC lightweight title in Austin where Cole was the referee and Van Hoy, another judge.

The dubious reputation of Cole and Langos makes the Pacquiao-Margarito fight even more interesting because they’re susceptible to mistakes. Van Hoy wears thick glasses and it’s not certain if his vision is sharp enough to follow the action in the ring. Crocker is a relative newcomer to major fights and that, too, could be a problem.

To avoid any complications involving a wrong call by the referee or an off-tangent scorecard by a judge, the safest option is to score a clean knockout – which is Pacquiao’s objective.