Joe Cortez: “I let Marquez continue after getting knocked down 3 times in the first round to Manny Pacquiao. There would be no other fights if I stopped it”

43 Submitted by on Sat, 31 August 2013, 10:48

by Robert Brown – In this interview with retired Hall of Fame referee and judge Joe Cortez, a variety of topics are discussed including upcoming megabouts between Floyd Mayweather v Canelo Alvarez and Danny Garcia v Lucas Matthysse, the roles of referees and judges including ways of improving standards of officiating. Controversial fights are also discussed, such as Paquiao v Marquez 1, the circumstances surrounding three knockdowns and the controversy regarding the knockdown in the Mayweather v Ortiz fight. Just hit play on the audio player below to hear what Joe Cortez had to say.

“When a referee makes a great decision, they don’t talk about it. I let Marquez continue after getting knocked down 3 times in the first round to Manny Pacquiao”
“There would never of been fights 2, 3, 4 if I had stopped the first Marquez-Pacquiao fight”
“I was lucky that I saw something in Juan Manuel Marquez’s eyes, that said he was able to continue, even though he was knocked down 3 times”
“Any referee on this planet would of stopped the fight, but I saw something in his eyes and had the option to let it continue”
“I put Floyd Mayweather Jr in the same class as Sugar Ray Robinson, and that say’s a lot as I think Robinson is the greatest fighter of all-time”


It was an honour to be able to conduct this interview with a man of Joe Cortez’s stature in the sport of boxing. I hope you enjoyed this interview and I wish to thank Joe Cortez for his time and I wish him luck in his future endeavours.

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43 Responses to "Joe Cortez: “I let Marquez continue after getting knocked down 3 times in the first round to Manny Pacquiao. There would be no other fights if I stopped it”"
  1. Fred says:

    So Joe Cortez is responsible for Pacquiao getting knocked out cold by Marquez LOL Suck on that Pac fans

    • hamlet says:

      yes of course…MARQUEZ WAS DONE…even in the first fight…with that LUCKY PUNCH…he become coward

      • hamlet says:

        1st,2nd,3rd fight pacman was not down…with his new condition coach wow its magic and boom! pacman was down ..so Bradley sorry for that enhancing. BE CAREFUL insist him for random blood testing.

      • Joe says:

        Lucky punches, better yet Great Punches!

    • Anonymous says:

      Pedquiao had no power, just threw bunches of slaps. In the other side Juan owns a wolop that sent many down and Pedquiao was sent farther for 5 minutes. ki ki tsk tsk nyiknyik

      • Toughguy says:

        Peed drinker JMM was in the custody of a certified Drug manufacturer. How’s that?

      • Anonymous says:

        tanga mo nman

      • RumirNemo says:

        uh-uh… Mr. Anonymous…. if you said so that Pacquiao had no power… then why don’t you be a punching bag of the Pacman and then you can say all of what you would want to say against the Pacman……

        However, you are like your idol… trying to hide your name by just trying to be a Mr. Anonymous which can be construed that you are a COWARD… just like of your idol Juan Manuel Marquez wherein which what he said that their will be no more 5th fight with with the Pacman was already construed by the boxing fans that indeed Juan Manuel Marquez is a COWARD…

    • jess says:

      Pacquiao is just a class act and a gentleman which is why he fought Marquez 2 more times after the supposedly-win-for-Pacquiao draw and the second-fight victory. Marquez hounded Pacquiao for another fight and followed him like a dog. He even went to the Philippines throwing insults at Pacquiao as a ploy to make Pacquiao angry. But it was Pacquiao’s class act that he agreed to fight him the third time. When Marquez lost the third fight, the hounding of Pacquiao become more intense and Pacquiao gave him another chance and he was lucky to have that lucky punch with one second to go in the sixth round. In fact before that lucky punch, Marquez was on the verge of getting KO’d. If Marquez lost the 4th fight, I don’t think he will continue running after Pacquiao at all cost even selling his soul to the devil just to get another fight with Pacquiao. Now that he won, he said he is finished wit Pacquiao. What an ungentleman act and cowardice, plain and simple. But dont blame him for running away from Pacquiao like what Mayweather & Bradley are also doing, because all these three know they will not get lucky with the Boxer of the Decade if they fight him.

  2. notfairorfirm says:

    No you would or stopped it as there really should of been 3knockdown rule. You allowed ped Marquez to get paid for cheating!

    • hamlet says:

      How shameful for a boxer to get down 3 times in one round…..and now with only a single punch. He will never fight the pacman again? another SHAME!….He said it’s not about money it’s about honor? how can a coward get an honor? anyway Pacquaio is not the Pacman anymore.I believe he cannot rise again.he lost his faith which previously brought him to the P4P throne. He changed his faith rather than changing the erring Pacqauio.

      • jess says:

        Boxing is not a sports anymore. It is all about money. Sports should be a game for gentlemen, human being and role model for the youth. One boxer has a wide following even if he is foul mouthed, a cheat, a big-time liar, with criminal mind, thrives on domestic violence, shameless, has money as his god, disrespectful to his parent, envious, etc.

    • Toughguy says:

      hahaha…Religion has nothing to do with Pacquiao’s declining skill. Its his dedication towards the sports which cost him to lose.

  3. notfairorfirm says:

    Drug cheat Marquez made millions because of u. I hope he gave you cut for helping him cheat againt the great pacman

  4. dong says:

    Marquez will be remembered more of a drug cheat coward than winning a KO against pac.

  5. niknok of north korea says:

    yes!! Marquez is a coward Drug user and a Big Cheater bcoz of Heredia!! thats for sure!!

  6. jake says:

    Hulkquez is the greatest drug user in boxing history that never been caught because of angel hernandez the ped and steriod suplier and can cheat all drug testing

  7. Fred says:

    Why are you fools saying marquez is on steroids? Just cuz pacquiao sucks and ran into a right haymaker doesnt mean marquez is a cheater. He’s just the superior fighter. Marquez is the best

  8. Fred says:

    I call Pacquiao “Pedquiao” because he’s been on steroids all his career, Even Mayweather would kick pedquiaos ass

    • cesar says:

      how can he kick pacqiao’ s ass if he is ducking him?

    • jess says:

      Marquez & Mayweather are certified cowards. Mayweather’s jail episode is even a script so that nobody will think he was avoiding the fight with Pacquiao. For Marquez, he knew if he fights Pacquiao again he will not have the lucky punch again because it is difficult to find anymore. Before the lucky punch, he was on the verge of getting KO’d.

      • Joe says:

        Even lucky punches is what boxing is all about. Other great boxing matches that ended up in a knockout are all lucky punches and get no credit? What do you mean lucky punches?

  9. Erichzen says:

    It is pacman’s fault he had already defeated marquez 2 times and he had still consider a fourth fight and thats the damnest thing he had done in his career.If he just became a boss of his own not Arum,his career will not be ruined.Sometimes in boxing you have to use your brain.

    • robert says:

      ..that is the problem. Pacquiao has no brain.

    • jess says:

      Boy, it was just a lucky punch. If Pacquiao does not have a high boxing IQ he will not become a champion for 8 world title in 8 different weights. Now hold it dont say he fights wash up fighters. If it were other boxers who would fight Pacquiao’s opponents, do you think they will win. For instance, Pacquiao fought marquez and cotto. With or without catch weight the result will be the same with Pacquiao as the winner. Talking of brains, Pacquiao is a fast learner of things even outside of boxing.

  10. Jose says:

    Funny that pactards call Marquez a cheat & a coward. Lets remind the pactards of what pacquiao really is. Pacquiao is a coward, after Marquez fell 3 times in the 1st round, it put him way back on the score cards. Pactards will say that the judge made a mistake on the score giving Marquez the draw but let’s also point out that Cortes made the mistake of not penalizing pacquiao a point for hitting Marquez while down. Marquez came back to win most of the rounds & earned a draw in which many people & sports writers thought he won. It took pacquiao 4 years to give Marquez the rematch & the reason he did was because they saw Marquez getting KD by Barrera, Marquez was now in his mid 30’s. That was a coward move on Pacquiao’s behalf. After pacquiao won a contraversial decision, pacquiao again ran from Marquez & would agree to a rematch 4 years later when Marquez was in his late 30’s. Again Marquez gave pacquiao a hell of a fight. But to wait another 4 years is a very cowardly move on Pacquiao’s behalf. Now the cheating part, Marquez never turned down extra testing. He even offered pacquiao that they both take extra testing & pacquiao turned it down not once but twice. Pacquiao also kept the biggest fight from happening because he didn’t want to take extra testing. What kind of champion turns down extra testing? A cheating, drug using champion does…

  11. robert says:

    Yes because of Cortez and Burt Clements, Marquez was very lucky

    • jess says:

      Marquez is lucky many times over. First, he got a draw in the first fight due to the stupid arithmetic skills of judge clements. Second, Referee Cortez had a look at Marquez eyes saying he can still go on, putting the health of Marquez in danger. Third, Pacquiao gave him two rematches even after the insults hurled by Marquez at him. Fourth, it was really a lucky punch, with the 6th round one second from ending. He is really a lucky guy!!!!!

  12. wbox says:

    Did Marquez learn to cheat or use drugs just to prove he can beat Pacman? Yes it made money, but boxing fans now think drugs can turn you into a hulk overnight and not be detected in the blood. Instincts are highly accurate.

  13. wilbur says:

    remember that boxing is a tough sport, anything could happened inside the ring. well my point is, i love to watch boxing because of Manny Pacquiao, who does not afraid to face bigger opponents, exciting to watch than any other fighter. he was brutally KO on his latest fight, but it was still an exciting fight..and this coming november, i still love to watch pacman vs rios.

  14. balagtas says:

    Marquez coward should not be given chance for 3 succeeding fights against Pacquiao. Cortez, Heredia and Marquez trio were responsible for Hulk ala PEDMarquez came back with lucky punch, That is why HulkMarquez ala PEDHeredia ala CheataCortez were great coward lucky trio.

  15. crispin bssilio says:

    Boxing is business. At this time JMM does’t like to talk with his fight to Pcman. If JMM wins over Bradley, my prediction JMM will fight Pcman. JMM will ask huge amount over Pcman.

  16. Barok says:

    JMM at 39 years old suddenly got a hulk physique and power in 4 months where he could not attain it in 20 years. Common guys, it is very obvious that Memo Heredia put something in JMM’s system in 4 months that changed JMM’s power and physique. This guy Memo boasts that he can beat any drug test so that is tantamount to admitting that he juiced up JMM and nobody can detect it.. Now, the cheater JMM is basking in glory at the expense of the cheated Pacman, who almost got killed. JMM is guilty of cheating that is why he is trembling in fear that the Pacman will KO him next time. JMM just escaped in the first and the fourth bout. and JMM even admitted that he was afraid that he will be KO’d in the 4th fight that is why he threw a hail mary and luckily connected.

    So now, will those JMM fans stop arguing that JMM is not on PEDS because it very obvious because of the power and Memo Heredia. If JMM can fight without Memo on his side, then we will believe you.

  17. robert ko boxing brown says:

    it was an honour that Joe Cortez gave me the time for this exclusive interview, would like to thank Doghouse boxing and Jenna Jay for giving me the forum to air this interview , you can follow me on facebook robert ko boxing brown
    twitter @robertkoboxing