Now, that joke’s a low blow

Monday, April 10, 2006 | 7:06 a.m.

In a bit of gallows humor late Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center, an out-of-town reporter attempted a weak wisecrack with Marc Ratner, the outgoing executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

You're leaving for a new job with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, he told Ratner, but tonight it must feel like you're already there.

Ratner smiled, but he knows the truth. The joke's premise was faulty.

Action in the UFC, the popular mixed martial arts organization that still carries an outdated reputation for mayhem in some circles, is far more civilized and orderly than what transpired in the 10th round of Saturday's welterweight title fight between Zab Judah and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

The Athletic Commission is scheduled to meet this week to sort out the mess generated by the incident, which has come to be known simply as "the melee," sparked by a low blow and a punch to the back of the head delivered in short order by Judah against Mayweather.

After the rabbit punch, Mayweather's trainer and uncle, Roger Mayweather, stormed into the ring, followed by cornermen from both fighters' camps, security guards and police officers.

"Roger was choking me," Judah said afterward.

Showers of beer fell on some of the rows of ringside observers, and for a tense moment it looked as if the crowd of 15,170 at the Thomas & Mack might enter full-scale riot mode.

Order was eventually restored, and Mayweather went on to win a 12-round unanimous decision.

Raymond "Skip" Avansino, the chairman of the Athletic Commission, ordered both fighters' purses to be withheld (about $5 million for Mayweather, at least $1 million for Judah), and Roger Mayweather was immediately suspended.

"(Roger Mayweather) clearly committed a foul, that's why he's suspended," Ratner said. "We could revoke his license temporarily; we could revoke it permanently. That's why we want to review the tapes."

Judah's promoter, Don King, said he plans to protest the decision on grounds that the fight should have been ruled a disqualification in favor of Judah.

"When Roger went into the ring, he disqualified his fighter," King said. "By any standard of boxing, when he goes onto the (ring) apron, it's an automatic disqualification. But also, he went after the referee and he choked some members of the (Judah) camp. It's a blatant and flagrant abuse of the rules."

Ratner said it was referee Richard Steele's call whether to halt the fight right away, and he backed Steele's decision to allow it to continue after a cooling-off period of several minutes.

"The referee did everything right," Ratner said. "We discussed (the possibility of halting it immediately), and I believe he made the right decision."

One of Steele's options, Ratner said, was to call the fight a double disqualification - which probably would have incited the crowd even more.

Floyd Mayweather, who embraced and shook hands with Judah after the fight, said he just wants the Athletic Commission to do its job in the review.

"I'm not the referee, I'm not the commission," Mayweather said. "All I am is a fighter, after all. That's not for me to speak of."

Judah apologized to Mayweather for the low blow, calling his opponent "a great fighter" and the better man in the ring.

"I didn't purposely hit him with that shot," Judah (34-4) said. "I'm not a dirty fighter. It's not my style."