by David P. Greisman
Robert Byrd will be the referee for the Sept. 12 fight between super-middleweight titleholder Badou Jack and George Groves, part of the pay-per-view undercard to Floyd Mayweather vs. Andre Berto at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Byrd was selected at the Aug. 27 meeting of the Nevada Athletic Commission.
He has worked two of Jack’s previous fights, according to BoxRec: a first-round stoppage of Adam Collins in 2011 and a draw with Marco Antonio Periban in 2013. He has not worked a Groves fight before.
The commission also selected Guido Cavalleri, John McKaie and Glenn Trowbridge to judge the fight.
Groves’ attorney had said they had no complaint about having the referee and one judge be from the United States, but otherwise sought two neutral judges. Cavalleri is from Italy, McKaie is from New York, and Trowbridge is from Nevada.
Cavalleri has not judged either man before, according to BoxRec. Neither has Trowbridge.
McKaie was the judge for Jack’s shocking first-round stoppage loss to Derek Edwards last year; he has not worked a Groves fight before.
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