Joey Curtis

Who was Joey Curtis?

George Curtis was a professional boxer, referee and business owner who was licensed to officiate bouts in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Curtis, who had an undistinguished career as a boxer, lived in Las Vegas for thirty years. There, he established the Curtis Construction Company, which he owned until May 2003.

As a boxing referee, Curtis was known for taking boxer's safety into consideration first. He refereed a number of world title fights, and he worked a number of non-title fights over the years.

Curtis is best remembered, however, for two specific fights: On June 26, 1981, at Las Vegas, Lupe Pintor was defending his WBC world Bantamweight championship against Jovito Rengifo, who was attempting to become Peru's first world boxing champion. Rengifo was leading on all scorecards going into the seventh round, but he absorbed dangerous punches during the course of that round. Curtis stopped the fight, giving Pintor a seventh round technical knockout win. The fight's crowd, which in Las Vegas is filled usually with pro-Mexican fans, booed Curtis for his decision to stop the fight.