Hopkins late with ref protest

Dean Juipe

Friday, June 4, 2004 | 9:34 a.m.

Dean Juipe

Bernard Hopkins missed his chance to oppose the assigning of referee Joe Cortez to his fight Satuday against Robert Allen, Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Marc Ratner said today.

Hopkins caused a stir Thursday by threatening to leave town and withdraw from his fight at the MGM, which is part of Top Rank-promoted doubleheader that also features Oscar De La Hoya against Felix Sturm. Promoter Bob Arum said the entire card would be canceled if Hopkins did not participate, and that view was substantiated by a representative of HBO today.

"We're playing it by ear, but this needs to be resolved today," Ratner said this morning.

Neither Hopkins nor his legal representative, James Fisher, protested when Cortez was named to referee the fight at a NSAC meeting May 25. The Sun printed the appointed judges and referee the following day.

"That's certainly my question in all of this," Ratner said, referring to Fisher attending the May 25 meeting yet remaining silent. "When I said Joe Cortez would referee the fight, there was no response.

"If there had been a problem, we had plenty of referees to choose from and could have made a switch.

"But to change referees now at the whim of a fighter, well, that's just unbelievable and I don't think it's going to happen. We certainly have no intention of asking Joe to step aside and I know he has said he wouldn't do it, because he's proud to have been selected to referee the fight."

Cortez reiterated that he did not plan to voluntarily step aside.

"The commission stands by its selection of Joe Cortez," Ratner said. "He's the best man for the fight."

Hopkins' objection to Cortez is ethnic-related in that Cortez is of Puerto Rican descent and Hopkins believes he has a problem with Puerto Ricans after stepping on a Puerto Rican flag as part of a publicity stunt before his 2001 fight against Felix Trinidad.

"Hopkins doesn't feel he can get a fair break with Joe as the referee and right now that's the whole problem," Ratner said.