By Jake Donovan
As Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley Jr. look to bring closure to their long-running in-ring rivalry, their third and final encounter will feature a sprinkling of familiar faces.
Veteran referee Robert Byrd - who served as third man in the ring for Pacquiao-Bradley I nearly four years ago - has been tabbed to oversee the rubber match, which takes place April 9 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. His appointment - as well as that of judges Burt Clements, Dave (not Carl) Moretti and Steve Weisfeld - were all unanimously approved by the five-member Nevada State Athletic Commission panel during its monthly agenda hearing Wednesday at state headquarters in Las Vegas.
None of the three judges were involved in either of the first two fights.
Weisfeld is the lone out-of-state resident among the team, based out of New Jersey and whom primarily works on the U.S. East Coast. However, he has officiated on occasion in Las Vegas, with his involvement in this clash stemming from his industry-wide reputation as one of the best active judges in the game.
His only involvement in the career of either fighter came in Pacquiao's epic fourth fight with Juan Manuel Marquez in Dec. '12. Marquez rallied to win the fight by a shocking one-punch 6th round knockout. Weisfeld had Pacquiao ahead 48-47 at the time of the stoppage, as did the other two judges as well as most objective viewers unofficially scoring the bout.
Amazingly, Moretti (Nevada) has never judged any pro fight involving Bradley, although he remains a familiar face for Pacquiao's apperanaces in Las Vegas. He has been assigned seven previous bouts involving Pacquaiao - including the wildly popular Filipino's last fight, in which he dropped a 12-round decision to Floyd Mayweather in the most lucrative event in boxing history. Moretti scored the bout 118-110 in favor of Mayweather, along the lines of how most observers saw the contest.
The only other prizefight Moretti has scored against Pacquiao was seeing Erik Morales as a 115-113 winner in the first of their three meetings, back in 2005. Again, the score was directly in line with the general consensus. He also served as part of the three-judge panel for their Jan. '06 rematch, which Pacquiao won by 10th round stoppage. Moretti scored the bout 86-85 in Pacquiao's favor to that point.
He's also served as a judge for Pacquiao's wins over Oscar de la Hoya (80-71 when the fight was stopped after the 8th round), Miguel Cotto (108-100 for Pacquiao - the closest of the three scores at the time of the 12th round stoppage), Shane Mosley (120-108) and in Pacquiao's third fight with Marquez in Nov. '11 (115-113 in favor of Pacquiao in a majority decision, though a debated outcome as was the case in each of their previous two fights).
Clements has served as judge for two previous bouts involving Bradley and just one for Pacquiao.
The Nevada-based official had Bradley as a 115-113 winner in an otherwise disputed 12-round draw with Diego Chaves, in a fight most believed Bradley deserved to win. He was also a ringside scorer for Bradley's 8th round stoppage of Joel Casamayor in Nov. '11, the co-feature bout to Pacquiao's win over Marquez in their third fight. The night led to Pacquiao-Bradley I as the first fight for both boxers.
The lone fight for Clements involving Pacquiao is perhaps one of the most debated decisions in recent boxing history, with his scorecard for Pacquiao's first fight with Marquez fueling the controversy. Their May '04 clash was deemed a 12-round split decis
Clements had the bout 113-113 even, but only because he applied an old scoring criteria in awarding Pacquiao a 10-7 tally for a three-knockdown opening round. Prior to the formation of the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC), judges were encouraged to not score rounds any lower than 10-7, regardless of the number of knockdowns or level of dominance to have taken place in the round.
That point of criteria disappeared upon the ABC's forming of the unified rules evident in today's bouts. To his credit, Clements owned up to the error after the fact, but unfortunately could not change his scorecard, although it ultimately led to a memorable four-fight series.
Aside from his role in their first fight - in which Bradley claimed a disputed 12-round decision - Byrd has officiated just one other bout involving Bradley, serving as third man for the former two-division champ's close but clear win over Marquez in Oct. '13.
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
