Saturday’s skirmish between Ryan Garcia and WBC super lightweight champion Devin Haney was a messy affair, but it was still a highly entertaining match mixed with great drama. In the aftermath, Garcia and Haney were praised – the former for fooling all the experts, the latter for his brave performance in a losing fight – but the third man in the ring, referee Harvey Dock, There was only a brickbat.
With Devin Haney clearly ahead heading into the seventh frame, there was a sudden reversal when Garcia sent Devin Haney to the canvas with a signature left hook. Shortly after, Doc deducted a point from Garcia for a late punch off the break. This deduction forced a temporary ceasefire and gave Haney precious seconds to regain his strength. Haney was on deck two more times before the round ended, but these were ruled slips.
This deduction, which effectively nullified the knockdown, was too heavy-handed since the dock had not previously issued a warning for this violation. Additionally, many thought that excessive clinching could have cost Haney points. Haney’s second and third appearances in the seventh round were deemed borderline by reporters watching from his home, and were enough to raise doubts in referee Dock.
In the post-fight interview, Ryan Garcia criticized the referee for disallowing his TKO victory. “At the end of the day, Harvey Dock, I think he was tripping,” Garcia said. “He could have stopped the fight.”
Those who placed their coins “under” and followed through on round suggestions definitely felt the same way.
The internet was abuzz with comments attacking Doc’s abilities and character. Some of my thoughts were whimsical, but I was overwhelmed by the eerie screech of the Dorts, who found a conspiracy under every rock.
Stephen A. Smith, said to be America’s highest-paid television sports personality, was among those who felt the need to be heard. Terrible officiating,” tweeted Stephen A., whose primary area of expertise is basketball.
harvey dock
Doc fought as an amateur and had one bout as a professional, winning a four-round decision over a fellow novice at a show at a non-gaming resort in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. He was just average as an amateur, but he was better than that, winning the New Jersey state and regional amateur championship in 1993 and 1994 while majoring in journalism at Essex County Community College in New Jersey. He said it became.
An avid fan of Sugar Ray Leonard, he began officiating amateur matches in 1998, and six years later, at the age of 32, he made his first recorded appearance at the professional level, handling low-level cards in New Jersey. I recorded the match. Top boxing referees have gone through a much longer training period than top judges, rising from the ranks of prize money hunters, and Doc is no exception.
Haney vs. Garcia was Harvey Dock’s 364th professional assignment and 42nd world title fight, according to BoxRec. Some of those title fights were just titles and not even main events, but little by little, more lucrative offers started coming his way.
On May 13, 2023, Doc will be in his first fight in Nevada on a card at Cosmopolitan that will feature four rounds followed by 12 rounds, topped by a 140-pound title bout between Laurie Romero and Ismael Barroso. was there. It was the reporter’s first time seeing the dock live.
Ironically (in hindsight), this card would be remembered for the actions of the referee, in this case Tony Weeks, who was in charge of the main event. Romero cornered Barroso against the ropes and threw a flurry of punches, but none of them landed cleanly. Few “premature suspensions” were so spectacularly or brutally premature.
With all the brickbats coming down on Weeks, I felt the need to quiet the noise by diverting attention from Tony Weeks to Harvey Docks, so I joined the TSS forums to share my thoughts. Referring to a solid 12-round junior welterweight bout between Batier Akhmedov and Kenneth Sims Jr., I noted that Doc’s Las Vegas debut went well. He glided effortlessly around the ring, keeping a low profile, the mark of a good referee. (This post was published on May 15, two days after the game.)
The folks at the Nevada State Athletic Commission were also paying attention. Doc will return to Las Vegas the following week to officiate the lightweight title fight between Devin Haney and Vasyl Lomachenko, and before the year is out he will officiate the July 29 Las Vegas bout, the biggest non-heavyweight bout of the year. is what happened.Terrence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. in Las Vegas
Haney vs. Garcia wasn’t Harvey Dock’s best time, I’ll admit that, but if you look closely at his work as a whole, you’ll see that he’s a great referee.
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While the Haney vs. Garcia fight was in progress, WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman threw everyone a curveball, tweeting that “X” would allow Devin Haney to retain the title even if he lost the fight. Everyone, including the TV commentators, believed that if Haney lost, the title would become vacant.
Sulaiman cited the precedent of Corrales-Castillo II.
FYI: The Corrales vs. Castillo rematch was originally scheduled for June 3, 2005, and was canceled the day before due to Castillo’s failure to make weight, despite the fact that Castillo failed to make weight again. It was finally canceled on October 8th of the same year. , exceeding the lightweight limit by 3.5 pounds. He KO’d Corrales with a left hook in the fourth round. Boxing writer Kevin Iall of the Las Vegas Review-Journal called it Mongo-esque, alluding to the movie Blazing Saddles. Mauricio’s late father, WBC president Jose Sulaiman, initially insisted on a rubber match, which had little chance of happening, but later ruled that Corrales could retain the title.
Whether you agree with Mauricio Sulaiman’s reasoning or not, the timing of his announcement was certainly awkward.
Haney’s must-have fighter is Spanish southpaw Sander Martin (42-3, 15 KOs), a cutie best known for his 2021 upset of Mikey Garcia. I have a feeling the match between Haney and Martin will be a boring fight.
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