Could Joe Cortez handled things a little better in the Mayweather vs. Ortiz fight absolutely, but should he be blamed for what happened, I don’t think so.
Cortez went on Fox Sports Radio to explain what happened in the final seconds of the 4th rd.
I told them the fight was back on and I put my hands in the middle and said come on let’s go. Then I looked at the timekeeper and being the captain of the ship I made sure that my timekeeper had his clock running. I was surprised he would put his hands out again to say I’m sorry. He did that the first time around. He even kissed Mayweather on the cheek. In boxing that’s why you always hear the phrase keep your guards up at all times. Why did he lower his guard when I already said time is in. He made the mistake. It was a mistake he made by lowering his guard and tried to apologize the second time. Mayweather said ‘the referee said time is in. We’re not going to be embracing again. We did that already the first time’ so he hit him with a left and he hit him with a right and down goes Ortiz.”
“Mayweather was in the corner when I took the point and then I went to Ortiz and I told Ortiz ‘why do you have to do this? There’s no reason for none of this.’ Then I brought them together. Mayweather came out of his corner, Ortiz wasn’t too far off of his corner, the other corner, so I brought them together. I said alright time in.”
Cortez is 100% correct in his assessment of what happened and it is exactly what I saw happen with my own eyes. Mayweather was not obligated to hug it out for a 2nd time after Cortez ruled time was in. At that point the fight was back on and Ortiz made the mistake of trying to be buddies after being dirty.
The only mistake Cortez made was taking his eye off the action.
As soon as he said “TIME IN”, his entire focus should have been on the fighters, beyond that he didn’t do anything wrong and I think he explained himself pretty clearly.
Mayweather took an advantage of a situation and Ortiz’s inexperience. Ortiz brought the conclusion on himself and has no one to blame but himself.