Joe Cortez is a retired Hall of Fame boxing referee and a current ESPN analyst. Cortez has been involved in some of the biggest match ups in the sport and knows the boxing scene from not only a referees perspective, but also as a former judge and boxer. I recently had a chance to speak to Joe Cortez and got his thoughts on the upcoming Canelo-Khan fight, sharing his views on Khan’s reason for taking the fight and how he sees it playing out. Joe also speaks on the Pacquiao-Bradley 3 result and if he sees Mayweather vs. Pacquiao 2 happening. Here is what Joe Cortez had to say.
Robert Brown: What are your thoughts on the upcoming bout between Canelo Alvarez and Amir Khan?
Joe Cortez: Amir Khan is a natural junior welterweight and he barely makes 147lbs as a welterweight and he’s fighting a full fledged middleweight. Canelo Alvarez comes in at 156lbs, so I think it’s going to be an overmatched fight in the sense that you got two good fighters but one’s fighting at the welterweight division and the other in the middleweight. I’d like to see more of the same weight class fighting each other and not fighters from two different divisions fighting each other. It’s not the way that boxing is supposed to be.
Robert Brown: Why do you think Amir Khan is taking this gamble?
Joe Cortez: He didn’t get his opportunity and he figures, “You know what? I’m not getting any younger and I’m just going to take a shot. It’s a good paycheck.” He probably figures that he’s going to get good money for this fight so he might as well take it. If he gets lucky and beats Canelo Alvarez, then he’s in for a rematch for another big paycheck. So no matter how he looks at it, he figures it’s a win-win for him either way.
Robert Brown: Do you give Amir Khan any chance in this fight?
Joe Cortez: I give him a chance because he does have the experience, he has the skills, he’s quicker. But if he gets caught by a punch from Canelo, he can be in serious trouble, he can get hurt and it’s all over for him for the night. You gotta make sure you have a good referee in that ring that night to make sure he doesn’t take unnecessary punishment.
Robert Brown: If Amir gets knocked out in five or six rounds by Canelo, is he in danger of losing the big fights at 147lbs?
Joe Cortez: No, because they’ll say that he fought a fighter that was too big for him. If he doesn’t get hurt seriously, he can easily go back to 147lbs and he has a good excuse why he couldn’t beat this guy because he’s so much bigger and stronger. Amir took the fight because it’s a good paycheck and he took a risk, if he wins, then he’s on the upper and he can make a lot more money, but if he doesn’t win, he can go back to 147lbs and fight Kell Brook.
Robert Brown: What is your prediction for the Alvarez vs. Khan bout?
Joe Cortez: Like I said before, the only chance I give Amir Khan is that his speed, his reach and if he stays out of danger, he can win the fight on points. I have to go with the stronger fighter who has only one defeat.
Canelo Alvarez knows that he’s not going to get hurt by Amir Khan so he’s going to be going forward with the punches and will probably end up stopping Amir Khan. I think it’s going to be one of those fights where it will be Amir Khan losing and we just hope that we have a good referee in there to protect him from getting unnecessary punishment.
(Listen to the full interview here)
Robert Brown: What did you make of Manny Pacquiao’s recent performance against Tim Bradley?
Joe Cortez: Timothy Bradley maybe went in a little overconfident thinking that this would be an easier fight for him because he had Teddy Atlas as his new trainer teaching him new tricks and bringing back some moves that he had from the past. But Manny Pacquiao came in super prepared, and Pacquiao is a fighter that learns from his mistakes.
Pacquiao raised the bar, was a little bit quicker and didn’t stay as stationary as much. I think I gave Timothy Bradley two or three rounds and that was it for the night. Bradley is a tough fighter but Manny Pacquiao wanted to go out with a big win and he got it.
Robert Brown: Do you think this win has opened the door to a Mayweather rematch?
Joe Cortez: I don’t think Mayweather wants to fight Pacquiao again, I think if Mayweather is going to do anything, he’s going to end up fighting Danny Garcia, who is not as dangerous. Mayweather can probably get an easier win over Garcia than he would over Pacquaio, so being that Pacquiao looked outstanding, I think Mayweather says, “I better stay away from him, he looks a little too fresh, he still looks like he has a little spark of the old flash. He may be too strong for me, let me go with somebody easier.” Mayweather will probably go with Danny Garcia if he ever comes back.
Robert Brown: If Manny comes back, who do you think he will fight. There’s talk about him fighting Canelo Alvarez, do you think that fight is realistic?
Joe Cortez: It’s possible that the may go at a catch weight because Pacquiao has fought at 154lbs, so if he did that against guys like Miguel Cotto before, he’ll probably do it again with Canelo Alvarez if Canelo is willing to come down to 155lbs at a catch weight.
It would be a risk for Canelo to come down to 154lbs but he can probably do it. If they put $100 million dollars in front of you, I think anybody would come down to 154lbs from 160, it’s not that difficult. It could be a little risky if you come in a little weaker for that fight, but if you’re going to walk away with an extra $100 million dollars, who cares?
Robert Brown: If Manny Pacquiao fights Canelo Alvarez, who would you be betting on at this stage?
Joe Cortez: I still have to go with Canelo Alvarez, he’s younger, hungrier, and stronger than Manny Pacquiao.
Robert Brown: By knockout or decision?
Joe Cortez: I would say maybe by decision.
no, joe cortez. manny pacquiao would prevail against canelo. canelo is too slow for manny. his punches are telegraphic for manny.
I see no reason for Pacquiao to return other then to fight Marquez or maywhimper . Nothing else is worth the effort not Alvarez not Khan and certainly not Crawford !
Mayweather won’t fight pacquiao again because he already beat him easy. Floyd had a broken bone in his hand and a calf injury going into it, and he still almost shut him out. Pac only had a few non effective flurries. I had it 10 rounds to 2. I think I was kind giving him 2 rounds. Mayweather-Garcia is a better fight then a Pacquiao rematch.
hey Fabian are you blind? Watch the replay and see for yourself how Gayweather run for his life for full 12 rounds. hahahahahahahah
How this Fabian says Gayweather almost shut Pacquiao out? See the tapes in slomo and you see how much Gaywether have absorbed from Pacquiao! He almost went down if not for the ropes! And Paquiao has an injured shoulder in that fight without any painkiller to relieve the pain! With a healthy Pacquiao and no Mafia syndicate to support him, he will lose surely to Pacquiao!
Fraud Mayflower is gonna loss if he face a healthy Pacquiao and no IV cheating and injecting xylocain
Why would he ??the first fight was easier than the Berto figth .
mayweather fought pacquiao i don’t think a defensive boxer is a real boxer, they just run, the true boxer loves toe to toe fights, anyway i don’t want to destroy floyd it’s just they have different kind of style. i think mayweather is wise and smart and a moneymaker, pacquioa in the other hand loves to entertain people and of course the talent fees as well. both of them is a good fighter in a different style. all the trash talking they made was the part of marketing strategy and with our comments we are also helping them to sell their products.
Let’s respect the word of Joe. I’m not even a fan of him. I thought before his retirement he is an anti Filipino. He is dangerous if he officiate in a match were in one boxernis a filipino. But we all know he works in boxing. He obviously knew more than we do. I thinnk all those who criticized him should bring shame to yourself. Who are you in the world of boxing compared to Joe. Your just someone setting in front of your keyboard.
Who would have thought they will be able to fight last year. No one can predict what Floyd is going to do. Many have said before that the public lost the interest, that the fight was long overdue and blah blah. But look what had happen! It was the biggest fight ever. And now you guys are saying the fight its not worth for a rematch. But we are still debating that fight. LOL. You cant predict them guys. Their into business too. Remember guys, it’s a fact that a pacman fight with Floyd still is the biggest money out there for Floyd. It may not duplicate the first one. And the second fact is that even if Floyd fight twice on his return the money that he will get still won’t match the money that he will get in fighting Manny for the second time. I suggest we will end the debate and listen to Joe because he is the most authorized person to tell about boxing here
I am a Mayweather fan but I thought Pacquiao won the fight. Mayweather should not fight Pacquiao again. Pacquiao might knock him down. Just like Cortez, I would like to see Floyd fight Garcia or maybe Mathysse.