The referee and the three scoring officials have been named ahead of the upcoming April 9th rubber-match between Manny Pacquiao and Tim Bradley. Robert Byrd will referee the clash in Las Vegas, while the three judges will be Dave Moretti, Burt Clements and Steve Weisfeld. Byrd is as experienced as can be and he has refereed both Pacquiao and Bradley before, being the third man for the first fight between the two, which as we know ended up as one of the most controversial fights, or decisions, in years. Bradley won in 2012, yet virtually nobody agreed with the verdict.
Fans everywhere want to see nothing controversial about the third fight, least of all a poor decision awarded one way or the other. None of the three judges who will work the rubber-match worked either of the first two bouts. This fight is said to be Pac-Man’s very final ring appearance (although Pacquiao himself has spoken about the possibility of maybe having one more big fight after April 9th should he have the urge) and what we need is a definitive ending to this particular rivalry.
A KO, one way or the other, would of course do the job. Pacquiao has spoken of wanting to go out in spectacular fashion and referee Byrd is a good third man who lets fighters fight without getting too involved. Hopefully, we will see a great action fight next month as well as a final result no-one will be able to argue with.
An interesting addition to the hype surrounding the upcoming fight is promoter Bob Arum’s decision to stick it to Trump, as in Presidential candidate Donald Trump. In response to some of the things Trump has said about the Hispanic community – which have offended Arum – the Top Rank boss has lined up an April 9th under-card featuring mostly Hispanic fighters.
“The more Donald Trump supporters I alienate, the prouder I am,” Arum told FOX Sports. “I know who he’s appealing to, and if they’re his supporters, let them stay home and not buy my fight.”
Arum, who has a “great admiration for the Hispanic community,” is willing to risk losing money by potentially losing pay-per-view buyers, but his dislike for Trump makes it no never mind. Good for Arum, fans of Hispanic warriors everywhere will say.