Sometimes being a boxing referee requires hazard pay.
Keyshawn Davis scored a hard-fought 10-round unanimous decision victory over Miguel Madueno on Saturday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, but it was the referee getting struck that was the most shocking story of the lightweight bout.
At the end of the sixth round, Davis appeared to hurt Madueno near the bell, after which Madueno got in his face and started to trash talk.
Davis responded by shoving Madueno’s face, who then in turn slapped back.
But instead of hitting Davis, Madueno accidentally hit the referee — who was trying to separate the fighters — in the face, staggering the official but not knocking him to the ground.
Madueno was not disqualified for the incident.
Actress Rosie Perez, who was watching the ESPN Top Ranked Boxing bout, used colorful language in a tweet, arguing Madueno should have been penalized for striking the referee.
“Why the ref didn’t take a point for getting b*tch slapped is crazy to me!” Perez posted on X.
The three judges scored the fight 99-91 for Davis, who improved to 11-0 (seven knockouts).
Madueno (31-3, 28 KOs) suffered his third defeat, but like his other losses, he lasted until the final bell.
The fight, shown on ESPN, was a rough one in which the boxers both were tackled, lifted, as well as the referee struck, but the two fighters hugged in the end after the hard-fought bout.
“We were both tough in there, and neither of our wills got broke,” Davis, a 2020 Olympic silver medalist, said afterward, according to The Ring.
