THE World Boxing Council (WBC) has completed the list of best ring officials that will work for the May 21 rematch between light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal and Bernard Hopkins at Bell Centre in Montreal , Quebec , Canada . Two Asians, two Europeans.
Making sure the list would be big names, Rey Danseco, the well-rounded Filipino in Asian boxing scene and Best Judge of 2010 in the Philippines during the 11th Gabriel "Flash" Elorde Memorial Boxing Awards Banquet of Champions last March 25 in Manila, is included as one of the judges along with fellow Asian Anek Hontongkam from Thailand and Italian Guido Cavalleri.
Having the best judges is the biggest consideration of the WBC after the first Pascal-Hopkins match went at the hands of the judges on December 18 at Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City .
As a result of the hotly-debated draw, the 5-foot-10 Canadian-Haitian champion retained the title for the fourth straight time in the process when two judges had it even in their scorecards.
The 38-year old Danseco, a sports editor in a leading newspaper in Manila and businessman and Hontongkam, an official of the WBC Asian Boxing Council, are fresh from working in two of the triple WBC world title bouts in Kobe, Japan last month when super bantamweight Toshiaki Nishioka and super featherweight Takahiro Ao retained their titles against Mauricio Javier Munoz of Argentina and Mexican Humberto Mauro Gutierrez, respectively.
Cavalleri is also a veteran in European boxing scene while the third man in the ring will also from Europe, the 48-year old Ian John-Lewis, a retired welterweight boxer from Gillingham, United Kingdom.
The 46-year old and 6-foot-1 Hopkins aims to become the oldest man to ever win a championship in boxing while Pascal is looking to prove his status.
The Vacant WBC Diamond light heavyweight title will also be on the line in this bout.