By Ronnie Nathanielsz
The third judge in the Mano-A-Mano showdown between Filipino ring idol and national treasure Manny Pacquiao and former two-time super bantamweight champion Oscar Larios will be a Thai and not a Filipino as initially claimed by the Games and Amusements Board.
Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today was informed that the third judge would be Noparat Sricharoen of Thailand. Respected international referee Bruce McTavish who will be the third man in the ring for the much-awaited clash at the Araneta Coliseum, the “Mecca” of Philippine sports and entertainment said Sricharoen was “a fine judge and a referee and a very nice person.”
The two other judges are widely experienced international judges Daniel van der Wiele of Belgium and Humbert Furgoni of France. The chairman of the WBC International Championship Committee, Mauro Betti, will serve as official supervisor although the GAB also claimed that GAB chairman Eric Buhain will be a co-supervisor.
There are no known instances where there have been two official supervisors neither has there been a case of a judge or referee who was a countryman of one of the fighters being named in world title or international title fights.
However, in OPBF title fights there is one judge from the country of each fighter with a neutral referee/judge.
