Tough-Guy Boxing Referee Stops Bout To Threaten Fighters With Fines

Tonight's super middleweight bout between Andre Ward and Edwin Rodriguez got weird when referee Jack Reiss called a lengthy time-out to lecture the boxers about how to behave themselves and "knock that shit off."

The fight was strange enough, given the WBA belt being taken off the table yesterday after Rodriguez failed to make weight. But fed up with the boxers' behavior coming out of their corners and their sniping during clinches, Reiss eventually had enough when he took a punch himself trying to separate the fighters. He sent both to their corners and assessed them each a two-point penalty; he repeated this several times, then stated his desire to have both fighters fined.

That's another strike against Rodriguez who's already paying a $200,000 fine for not making weight. But have you ever seen a referee freak out the way Reiss does here? [HBO]