By David Finger

Fightnews.com® is sad to report the passing of one of boxing’s most esteemed referees: Eddie Cotton of New Jersey. Cotton died on the morning of April 17th of COVID-19 after having been hospitalized for over a week. Cotton was highly regarded in the boxing community having refereed hundreds of high profile fights since the early 1990s. He is remembered as the third man in the ring for the infamous Riddick Bowe-Andrew Golata rematch in December of 1996, the final fight of George Foreman in November of 1997 (when Foreman lost a controversial decision to Shannon Briggs), the Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson fight in June of 2002, as well as world title fights involving Wladimir Klitschko, Gennady Golovkin, and Bernard Hopkins among others.

“Boxing has lost another good man to #COVID_19.” Lou Dibella tweeted about the passing of Eddie Cotton. “One of the most well known and respected referees in the world, Eddie Cotton was also one of the nicest people in our sport.”

It was a sentiment shared amongst many in the sport of boxing.

“He was a great guy,” WBO President Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel said of Cotton, a regular attendee of the WBO Annual Convention and a frequent golf partner of Valcarcel during the annual convention. “He was a good referee and a great guy. He was my golf partner for a long time. We had a special relationship and a great friendship.”

Cotton was also a highly regarded community leader in Paterson, New Jersey. Cotton had served as the first black president of the Paterson City Council and also was the first black public works director in Paterson.

“Paterson has lost a legend,” Mayor Andre Sayegh was quoted as saying to the Paterson Times. “Ed Cotton was an accomplished boxing referee, a respected community leader, and a cherished friend.”