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Calling the action inside of the ring, well-respected referee Kenny Bayless can see where the fans are coming from with their lack of appeal but says that slow nights are just part of the sport.
"They're all pretty much the same in terms of excitement," Bayless said of 2011's biggest event thus far. "When you got fans from both sides there, nothing beats its. As officials we have to keep our focus and do our job. A lot of people wanted a little more out of the fight but I thought the fight had a little mixture of everything in it. You gotta be willing to take the good with the bad."
The fight's excitement was at its peak in the third round when Pacquiao clipped Mosley with a right-left combination on the inside that planted Shane on his rear. Looking dazed after hitting the matt, Bayless had instant concern as to how severe Mosley's condition was.
"It's as if anybody would have gotten knocked down," Bayless continued. "I've got the same, normal protocol as far as making sure that Manny is in the neutral corner and then proceed with the neutral count and at the same time watch Shane very closely and watch how well he took the punch and how well he can recover from the punch. Now I'm in a situation where I have to decided if he was able to continue or not. He was shook from the punch but he was able to gather himself and continue with the fight."
Bayless is regarded as one of the game's best third men but he will be the first to admit when a mistake comes from his end. In the tenth round Bayless ruled that Pacquiao had suffered a knockdown after taking a right body shot from Mosley and gave the General Santos City fighter a standing eight count.
Upon further review, Bayless concedes that the knockdown wasn't legit and offered no excuses from his end.
"I thought that it was a punch at the time. Because I just happened to be on the back side of Shane. We work all the time to be in position but with the movement of the fighters we sometimes get out of position. From my viewpoint it was a punch and I was just like anyone else until I saw the instant replay. From what I could see it was more of a push. That's one I just got to take on the chin because it was a call that I just missed," Bayless modestly stated.
Bayless noted that he will be in Primm, Nevada this coming Friday for the Golden Boy Promotions show and expects the boxing action in Nevada to pick back up towards the end of summer.
Freddie gave him a gesture as well.
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