First off, good to see you back in the thread. We were getting ready to organize a search party.
I agree with virtually everything stated above. I've always thought the Hatton-Tszyu ref represented the gold standard for bad hometown refereeing, but I think the guy in Montreal last night was worse. I knew something was up the first time Bute lifted Andrade's leg up, and the ref broke them up and warned Andrade!
The one and only thing I will say in defense of Bute regarding the long count:
I rewound it on DVR and watched the knockdown, and counting on my own and completely ignoring what the ref is doing, Bute is up at the count of 8 or 9. He was completely out of it and his legs were gone, but he was on his feet in less than 10 seconds. And considering he was knocked down with only a few seconds left, the moment he's on his feet, the bell should ring and the fight is over. So if the ref had been doing what he was supposed to be doing (giving the count), Bute would have still been up on time and the bell would have rung. The long count made the ref look incompetent and biased, but I don't think the long count changed the outcome, in and of itself. Of course, the ref had spent 11+ rounds influencing the outcome before we even got to the long count...
Andrade reminds me a lot of a poor man's Margarito. Similar body types and styles, both have amazing chins, etc. Obviously Margarito is a much better fighter overall, but there are similarities. I don't know if anyone watched the Kessler-Andrade fight last year, but it's one of the most amazing "chin" displays I've ever seen. Kessler hit Andrade with every punch in the book for 12 rounds and Andrade took it all. There were about a dozen times in that fight where I honestly thought Andrade's head would snap off. He's one tough guy.
Bute's got some skills, but I'm not sure he's championship-material. I think Kessler beats anyone at 168 right now with Calzaghe gone. Good division though. I'd love to see Kessler fight the Taylor-Lacy winner.
Yeah, I also watched again and saw that Bute managed to struggle to his feet before 10 seconds had elapsed. But what was truly maddening to me was that the "long count" was just the culmination of a whole night of blatant hometown -- or to give him the benefit of the doubt, purely incompetent -- refereeing by that guy, who probably shouldn't have been in charge of a match of this magnitude anyway. There are plenty of decent refs in Las Vegas and in New York/New Jersey. I'm sure at least one of them would have been willing to take an expense-paid weekend in Montreal.
If that ref was truly doing his NUMBER ONE job, which is protection of the fighters' safety, he would have waved off the fight with about 20-25 seconds to go. Go back and watch it again and you'll see that Bute is clearly out on his feet and 100 percent unable to defend himself. But instead of stopping the fight, the ref gets in between the fighters and holds Andrade of with a shoulder block for two or three seconds. Even so, Andrade comes at Bute, who is just leaning on the ropes wit his hands at his side, lands a body shot that double Bute over then pummels him until Bute collapses over the top rope. Should have been a knockdown right there at the very least, but the ref does nothing. The fight really should have been waved off right there. I think we're actually somewhat lucky that there wasn't a tragedy. If Andrade were a crisper, more accurate puncher, there might have been. Bute was a sitting duck.
Anyway, at that point Bute then staggers backward across the ring into his own corner. Andrade chases him and nails him a few more times. The ref steps between the fighters again. I give Bute credit for standing up, but he was really far gone. He staggers to the nearest neutral corner with his knees bending aleady. Again, the ref puts himself directly in Andrade's path, costing valuable seconds. But Bute is still helpless. As soon as Andrade reaches him, it's target practice and he lands a huge right hand bomb that send Bute finally crumpling to the floor.
Then came the absurdly halted count with the ref screaming, "Get in that corner!" at Andrade, who WAS in the corner. And why is the ref checking Andrade's whereabouts at that moment anyway, with a fallen and semi-conscious fighter in front of him?
If he wasn't against the ropes, I wonder if he's able to get up on his own. But he did get up before 10 seconds were gone. That much is true. But the "long count" was just the icing on the cake of a historically terrible officiating performance.
Oh, well. Andrade is a Golden Boy fighter, so maybe a rematch can be worked out, hopefully not in Montreal. If not, it'll be interesting to see where Bute goes from here. I assume they'll try to work out a unification with Kessler, but I can't see Bute standing much a chance in that fight. Maybe her gets the winner of the Jermaine Taylor-Jeff Lacy fight, which should be Taylor. I'd favor Taylor in that fight, too, though it would be closer.
