There wasn't a ref in the world who could have saved Tony tonight. He was dominated. Yes, a few more clinches might have allowed Cotto go the distance an lose a decision instead of being stopped. If the ref had been stupid as the ref in the Berto fight, it wouldn't have mattered because Shane was getting the better of Tony inside. Perhaps it would have gone on a little longer, but in the the end would have been the same. The ref being overly sensitive to clinches helped Collazo and contributed to it being a very close fight that many people think Collazo won, yes. Maybe Berto wins two more rounds if he was allowed to clinch. Either way, same result. Berto won.

Tony got his ass kicked from LA to TJ. Beaten, dominated. It was not unlike the way Mayweather dismantled Hatton. If Hatton had been allow by Cortez to clinch more, would Hatton have won? I think not. Maybe he doesn't get KO'd, but he still loses. With or without a single clinch, Tony was going to lose the fight, just like Cotto would have lost (but probably gone the distance) if he would have clinched more.