What was your general opinions on the ref.

[spinksjinx]

For last nights main event, what was your opinion on the referee Kenny Bayless? Many thought he didnt deserve to officiate a fight of this caliber and wouldnt be good....Although he didnt have to do a lot, thumbs up and he did a good job. Would have been nicer if he had an eye for those blatant low blows that oscar stunned bernard hopkins with....Anyone else wish to shed opinions?

Bayless reminded me of richard steele in some ways.

[Dark Destroyer]

He seemed like a good referee, he stamped his authority when things got abit rough. Overall he did a good job in my opinion. Oscar did catch Bernard with the odd low blow but i don't think they were intentional, it's not Oscars style.

[mic573]

The low blows were unintentional and the punches only strayed downstairs because Hopkins was holding his head down. Hopkins also did his share of hitting low as well. Bayless did a good job like he always does.

[teakay]

He did a great job, hardly knew he was there.

[grayfist]

Bayless did as well as I expected. He did not break the fighters up prematurely, which is the officiating style he has consistently shown in previous fights I saw him officiate. He intervened only when necessary and with authority. He allowed both fighters to determine among themselves how the fight should be fought (within the rules) instead of imposing his own assumptions, inclinations and character; he seemed always aware that fans came to watch the fighters not the ref. His having missed low blows (which,I agree, appeared to have been all unintentional)was something I'm willing to overlook when this is stacked up alongside the manner he officiated the rest of the action in the 8 rounds + that the fight lasted.T'was one of the best ref showing that I've seen this year. Is there any way Bayless can clue in Nady some?

[slickhook]

Bayless did as well as I expected. He did not break the fighters up prematurely, which is the officiating style he has consistently shown in previous fights I saw him officiate. He intervened only when necessary and with authority. He allowed both fighters to determine among themselves how the fight should be fought (within the rules) instead of imposing his own assumptions, inclinations and character; he seemed always aware that fans came to watch the fighters not the ref. His having missed low blows (which,I agree, appeared to have been all unintentional)was something I'm willing to overlook when this is stacked up alongside the manner he officiated the rest of the action in the 8 rounds + that the fight lasted.T'was one of the best ref showing that I've seen this year. Is there any way Bayless can clue in Nady some?

Has Bayless ever been great in any fight?

[grayfist]

Has Bayless ever been great in any fight?

Great? No. And the word does not appear in any paragraph that I wrote and you quoted.

Read again.

Saying that Bayless "...did as I expected..." in officiating a specific fight, is not tantamount to saying he was great, in that or any other fight. At best, it means, that in my view he was satisfactory during that fight referred to. Notice that I said he missed some low blows. That could not be near a great performance, could it be?

That I want him to teach Nady some, shows how much I regard Nady's performance in the fights that I saw him officiate.

That I also said, that it was one of the best performance of a referree last year (2004) showed how low my opinion is of refs' showing in that year. A near-satisfactory performance becomes one of the best.

It's as simple as that. No more, no less. Not "great".

Next time, read closely.

[gustang1969]

yeah the ref did good that low blow by oscar was like whoa how did he not catch it but hey wasnt hopkins bullying de la hoya for a while and pushing

[LittleBigMan]

He refereed Jones-Tarver I also. No problems in that one