By Leo Reyes

The controversy behind the late stoppage of the just-concluded Pacquiao-Cotto boxing match brings to light the role of boxing trainers, ring physicians and referees in making timely decisions to save boxers from harm and unnecessary punishment.
Referee Kenney Bayless could have stopped the Pacquiao-Cotto fight on the eighth or ninth round last November 14 if Miguel Cotto did not move around to get away from the unrelenting attack by Manny Pacquiao.
InareportbyMarkDumonof Examiner.com, Bayless said “I was waiting for the opportunity on a good flurry to stop it because I didn’t want Miguel to take any more punishment.” He was just moving around to survive the 12 rounds, Bayless added.
It may be recalled that Miguel Cotto has been subjected to a similar bloody punishment when he fought Antonio Margarito in their controversial fight almost two years ago and suffered his first loss in his professional boxing career. Later, Margarito fought Shane Mosley in a controversial match where Margarito’s handlers were found to have inserted illegal substance inside his gloves. The incident led to the suspension of Margarito’s boxing license to fight in the State of California.
The discovery of the illegal wraps found in Margarito’s gloves during his fight with Mosley reinforced the suspicion that the same might have been used on Cotto that caused his devastating loss.
Boxing experts and fans say that Cotto is no longer the same great boxer that he was prior to his fight with Margarito.
In his decision to stop the fight on the 12th round of their match, referee Kenny Bayless must have noticed that Cotto was no longer fit to continue without risking his life.
Mitch Abramson of NY Daily Daily News, talked about the responsibility of trainers, ringside doctors and referees. He said that trainers are the best persons to protect their boxers but they are ‘hamstrung by the rules of the sport, which place trainers in subservient positions that compromise their duties to protect their fighter’.
“Trainers are amongst the most unprotected groups that we have in all of professional boxing,” said Ron Scott Stevens, former chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission. “The entire situation would be made better if trainers were licensed for the appropriate skills that they possess.”
Steven’s views are shared by Pacquiao’s trainer and coach Freddie Roach
“Sometimes trainers are scared to stop the fight because they’re afraid that they might get fired after the fight,” said Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach. “If I had been in Cotto’s corner, after the eighth round I would have spoken to him and probably given him one more round. But I definitely would have stopped it after the ninth round. I guess his corner was trying to get a moral victory by going the distance.”
Referee Bayless for his part said “I could have stopped that fight two rounds sooner,”"He had taken some tremendously hard blows early in the fight. But there was nothing from Pacquiao (late in the bout) to convince me that it should be stopped. I just couldn’t stop it out of nowhere. I had to wait until there was something more.”
In the case of Cotto, the decision to continue the fight was solely his own and not Joe Santiago, his trainer. read more