Steele advises big fight ref

Dean Juipe

Thursday, June 6, 2002 | 10:04 a.m.

When Mike Tyson was denied a boxing license earlier this year in Nevada and his proposed heavyweight title fight with Lennox Lewis was subsequently moved from Las Vegas to Memphis, those coordinating the bout lost their access to some of this state's resources.

Take the issue of who would referee the fight.

Had the fight, which is scheduled for Saturday, been here, someone along the lines of Joe Cortez would have been selected to serve as referee. But when the fight went to Tennessee, a referee with lesser credentials had to be found.

The man eventually selected, Eddie Cotton, has worked 45 world title fights but has never officiated a fight of the magnitude of Tyson vs. Lewis. As a result, there has been some concern regarding the most basic of premises: Is Cotton up to the task?

Richard Steele decided to call him and not only find out, but offer his reassurances.

"I called him up and congratulated him," Steele said Wednesday at the Nevada Partners gym. "He seemed real appreciative and I think he's comfortable with the fight. He should do well."

Before retiring as a referee, Steele worked a record 167 world championship fights. A number of those were extremely high profile.

"There was a time when I hadn't yet worked a mega-fight, so I know how Eddie feels," Steele said. "You think you can do it, but until you actually do there are some doubts."

Encouraged by Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Marc Ratner to call Cotton at his home in New Jersey, Steele complied and found a willing listener.

"I told him two things: Don't add or subtract," Steele recounted. "I told him he was assigned to this fight because he's a good referee, and the last thing he wants to do is change anything.

"I said, 'Just do what you always do.' A mistake some referees make when they get a fight like this and they know one or both of the participants has a (bad) reputation is that they'll prejudge or have preconceptions of what to expect.

"They might go into the fight looking for a late hit or an elbow and then they'll miss a low blow. I told Eddie he doesn't need to do anything different and he shouldn't go in there with anything in the back of his mind.

"If something happens, you just react."

Steele added another point as he ran through his checklist with Cotton.

"I stressed to him that he wanted to be in the absolute best physical condition he possibly could," Steele said. "You can handle things better when you're in top shape, and this fight here is going to be a war."

Steele, who is delving into the boxing promotion business and is assisting with a pair of cards June 27-28 in Albuquerque, also said he was privy to an assortment of behind-the-scenes ploys by a number of men who wanted to referee the Tyson-Lewis fight.

"When this fight was moved out of Nevada, guys came out of the woodwork hoping to be named the referee," he said. "I was afraid, really afraid, that politics would be involved and that somebody who had no chance of being able to handle it would be selected.

"I saw guys politicking to get the fight and it rubbed me wrong. So I was happy in the end when those guys didn't get it and Eddie did."

Steele also had a warning of sorts for Cotton.

"A fight like this can make or break a referee," he said. "If you do a poor job, you might never work again."