LAS VEGAS ? After the controversy over the scoring of the Floyd Mayweather victory over Canelo Alvarez last month, the Nevada Athletic Commission has changed the way it vetted its officials and judges for big fights, starting with Saturday?s fight between Cathedral City?s Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez.
But promoter Bob Arum said it?s hogwash, and the changes are at best cosmetic.
?Don?t listen to these politicians. Most of them tell you what you want to hear,? Arum said. ?They haven?t changed the procedures.?
The commission allowed both camps and the promoters to hear who the pool of referees and judges will be and allow them to voice any concerns. Cameron Dunkin, the manager for Bradley, said the camps can talk about the judges and referees anonymously rather than at a commission meeting, allowing everyone to speak freely.
However, the pool of judges and referees are mainly from Nevada. Arum wants a pool of judges beyond Nevada.
?You don?t change the procedure when you have a small group of officials that you rotate,? Arum said. ?So you ask the promoter who do you object to, that?s BS. You should attempt to get the best officials. Why should there be two Nevada officials like in the upcoming fight?
?Are they good officials? Yeah, they?re OK. Are there better officials? You?re damn right.?
The referee for Saturday?s fight is Robert Byrd from Nevada, who many consider one of the best referees in the world. The three judges for the main event are Robert Hoyle and Patricia Morse Jarman of Nevada and Glenn Feldman of Connecticut.
Dunkin disagreed with Arum about the need to use judges outside of Nevada and California. He says there?s a large enough pool of experienced judges and officials with championship experience.
?Bob wants to bring judges from all over the world, like Thailand. Why?? Dunkin said. ?For a fight like this, there?s no reason for it. I?m satisfied with it. California, they have excellent judges. Nevada, they have excellent judges. You know, places like that where you fight. They have such a big pool of judges who do so many title fights, you don?t have to worry about it. We?re fine with it. We?re very happy with the judges, no matter what happens.?
