The quest for a worthy boxing referee for the Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor fight on August 26th continues. Who ends up the third man in the ring has serious implications for the fight. McGregor is coming into this match from the UFC and many expect an unconventional style. A ref permitting or disallowing this could completely change the complexion of the fight. Even something as simple as how long the ref allows clinching before a break has massive implications for the fight.
One referee that’s already out of contention is Kenny Bayless, one of the main refs Navada calls in for big fights. He’s reffed numerous Mayweather fights in the past, but his comments made before the Floyd vs. Conor scrap was official have disqualified him from consideration.
“I wouldn’t want to see it,” Bayless said in an interview from back in October of 2016. “Because it’s two different sports. UFC and boxing are two different sports, so what would be the point?”
Seriously? This is Kenny Bayless who works for the NSAC a potential ref for the fight. Sounds like he works for the crybaby Oscar De La Arum pic.twitter.com/7yLvORqMOQ
— danawhite (@danawhite) June 23, 2017
McGregor and his coaches have repeatedly said they wanted Bayless disqualified from potentially reffing over his comments, which they feel showed a lack of impartiality that probably goes far and wide through the world of boxing refs and judges. And while the Nevada Athletic Commission has done that, they claim it wasn’t because of any pressure from anybody.
“Conor McGregor had nothing to do with Kenny Bayless’ removal,” commission head Bob Bennett told the LA Times. “Kenny Bayless was removed from being considered because of the comment. Based on his comment — he shouldn’t be talking to the media unless it’s something mundane, like about how an official works — he was removed long before McGregor said anything.”
We imagine referee Joe Cortez is also out of the running, as he’s currently employed by Conor McGregor to ref his sparring matches and prepare Conor for what he can expect as far as pushback on various strategies and techniques. All should be revealed soon, though. The Nevada Athletic Commission has a meeting on Wednesday August 16th to vote on various issues surrounding Mayweather vs. McGregor. Whether 8oz. gloves will be allowed is getting a vote. And we assume judges and a referee will be assigned. It’s bound to be controversial however it all goes … just another day in the dramatic lead up to one of the biggest fights in combat sports history.
