In Defense Of Harvey Dock
In the days following the exciting upset victory by Ryan Garcia over Devin Haney, cries of criticism, and even corruption, have been hurled at referee Harvey Dock. Considered one of the best referees in the sport of boxing, the general sentiment has been that Dock did a terrible job.
The common touchpoint of this criticism is Dock’s handling of round 7. In the 7th, Haney hit the canvas several times but only one knockdown was called. Garcia was deducted a point for hitting on the break. Haney held Garcia to keep from being knocked out.
The general commentary is that Dock missed two knockdowns, calling them slips instead, and by taking a point from Garcia, not only did Dock reduce the impact of the knockdown on the scorecard, but gave Haney extra time to recover.
Former world champion Paulie Malignaggi said on his YouTube channel, Paulie TV:
“I thought Harvey Dock did a really bad job. Dock is one of the best referees in the sport, I’ll admit it, bro, you know what I mean? I was kinda surprised at the job Harvey Dock did, especially in round 7, when Haney just would not break. He’s holding, holding, holding…you’re [Dock] not even breaking them physically, you’re just letting him [Haney] hold…you gotta break them yourself, bro.
Of course, Ryan is going to throw on the break. Ryan was losing his chance to get a knockout there. And then you go and directly take a point away from him [Garcia], giving Haney even more time to recover in round 7.
I thought that was a very poor job there by Harvey, who’s always a good referee.”
ESPN personality, Stephen A. Smith posted on X (Twitter):
“This referee is absolutely terrible. Ryan Garcia drops Haney. He’s hurt as hell, holding into Garcia for dear life, forcing Garcia to punch in the clinch. The ref pauses action to deduct point — no warning. Utter bullshit. Garcia drops Haney again twice — yet ref calls both a slip. Unreal! Horrible officiating.”
UFC fighter Jorge Masvidal suggested corruption on the part of Dock, posting on X, This ref must have a bet in.
Even Ryan Garcia, the winner of the fight, had a few choice words for Harvey Dock:
“At the end of the day, Harvey Dock, I think he was tripping, He should have stopped that fight. It was bad. [Haney] was really hurt…The guy was holding me for dear life. I felt an opportunity to keep swinging while my hands were free and I cracked him, and then [Dock] took a point away when I cracked him. But he held me. I should have knocked him out in that seventh round. They stole that from me.”
Despite the consternation surrounding Dock’s handling of round 7, the reality is that Harvey Dock handled round 7 exactly as he should have.
After the first knockdown, Dock directed Garcia to the neutral corner. Since the amateur days, fighters are told, on a knockdown, to go to the neutral corner and stay there until the ref resumes the action. Part of the referee’s job in the case of a knockdown is to ensure the standing fighter is in the neutral corner.
Ryan Garcia decided not to stay in the neutral corner. Garcia came out as far as the center of the ring while Dock was giving Haney the count. When Haney returned to his feet, Dock, who was about to restart the action, was forced to pause, push Garcia back from the center of the ring towards the neutral corner, then resume the fight.
Any extra time Haney gained there was Garcia’s doing.
Next, Garcia INTENTIONALLY hit Haney on the break. There are times in boxing matches when a fighter is in the midst of a combination as the ref is stepping in to break the action and a stray shot lands, unintentionally. Usually, the ref lets those unintentional hits on the break go with just a warning.
Unintentional was not what Garcia did. Dock was clearly breaking the action. He was physically pulling Haney away from Garcia, who hadn’t thrown a punch once Dock initially stepped in. Suddenly, without the go ahead from Dock to resume action, Garcia threw a right hand that connected with Haney.
Since the amateur days, fighters are told to stop the action when a break is called and to not resume until the referee says so. This is one of the staple rules of sportsmanship and competitive fairness in the sport of boxing. Violation of this rule is a cardinal sin of the sport. Being held by your opponent is no excuse or justification for hitting on the break.
As a result, Dock was well within his rights and discretion to take a point away from Garcia for an INTENTIONAL hit on the break, even without a prior warning. According to the WBC rules, the commission this fight was conducted under, “Point deductions for intentional fouls will be mandatory.”
Any recovery time Haney gained from the point deduction is on Garcia, not Dock. Any impact on the scorecard is on Garcia, not Dock.
Harvey Dock handled the falls to the canvas by Haney correctly as well. Just because a fighter hits the canvas, doesn’t automatically make it a knockdown. By rule, a knockdown can only occur from a legal blow or series of blows.
The first no-call on a knockdown came after Haney threw a wild left hook, then ducked and grabbed Garcia around the waist. Garcia threw a right hand that landed in the middle of Haney’s back. This is not a legal blow.
Even if it was a legal blow, the time between the punch landing and Haney falling to the canvas was too much to say that the punch resulted in the knockdown. Haney stumbled forward as he was bent over and lost his balance. Not a knockdown.
The second no-call occurred after Haney received a series of legal blows. However, Haney stepped away from that exchange on solid feet, in a defensive posture, ready to continue the fight. None of the blows from that series of punches could be deemed the cause of the subsequent fall to the canvas.
Garcia followed up with a right hand as Haney ducked and grabbed for Garcia again. Garcia, in an attempt to avoid being held, placed his forearm on the back of Haney’s neck, drove down, and stepped back.
This action caused Haney to fall. The punch did not.
In both instances, Harvey Dock was correct to call these falls to the canvas slips instead of knockdowns.
Finally, addressing Haney’s excessive holding, it is customary for referees to not penalize hurt fighters who hold as a means to not get knocked down or knocked out. Could Dock have warned Haney about the holding? Penalized Haney for it? Sure. But that action would have been the outlier of referee actions when a fighter is hurt.
Fighters are taught to hold when they are hurt, and referees, historically, have given fighters latitude to do so.
Additionally, Dock allowed holding throughout the fight. If you want to lob criticism at Dock for that, sure, no disagreement. If warnings were to be given or points taken, it should have come well before the 7th round when the excessive holding was interrupting the flow of the fight, not when a fighter is performing as he is trained to do when hurt.
Harvey Dock is considered one of the best referees in the sport of boxing. His performance on April 20th not only didn’t diminish his status, it elevated it. In a very tough fight to referee, Dock made the correct calls in the crucial moments in a way that is expected of the top referees in the sport.
Far from horrible, Harvey Dock was stellar.
