LOS ANGELES — When trainer Freddie Roach was told that Lou Moret had been assigned to referee Manny Pacquiao’s 12-round encounter with Hector Velazquez, the Hollywood-based corner man just shrugged and made it clear he’s got no problem with the choice of referee.
“Lou’s okay. I know him very well because he even refereed some of my fights,” said Roach of the 60-year-old Moret, born and raised in the City of Angels after attending the rules and officials meeting on Friday afternoon.
Before taking on this assignment, Moret had worked on over 110 world title fights beginning in 1983 featuring welterweight champion Milton McCrory. Since then, Moret has worked some of the sport’s top draws, including Lennox Lewis, Oscar dela Hoya, Vitali Klitschko and Shane Mosley.
The three judges at ring side are Marty Sammon, Pat Russel and Alejandro Rochin. Sammon and Russel are from California, while Rochin is from Mexico.
The Pacquiao-Velazquez bout has been sanctioned as a World Boxing Council (WBC) International championship, although it doesn’t carry much weight as compared with a regular WBC title.
