The third man in the Floyd Mayweather Jr – Andre Berto fight has been identified.
For third straight times, Kenny Bayless will be officiating Pretty Boy's boxing match.
Las Vegas Review Journal reported the seasoned boxing referee has been tapped to overlook the world welterweight title fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr and Andre Berto set on Sept. 12 in Las Vegas.
Judges in Floyd Mayweather Jr – Andre Berto fight are Dave Moretti and Adalaide Byrd of Las Vegas and Steve Weisfeld of New York.
According to Live New Journal “Moretti will be judging a Mayweather fight for the fifth straight time, Byrd last judged a Mayweather bout in September 2011, and Weisfeld will be judging a Mayweather fight for the first time.”
Bayless' appointment did not sit well though for some fans as they accuse him of siding with Floyd Mayweather Jr, particularly in his victories against Marcos Maidana in 2014 and Manny Pacquiao last May.
and it what is now dubbed "let's pretend anyone had a shot to ref a Mayweather fight" Kenny Bayless will ref 9/12
— Ernie Gabion (@eaner0919) August 27, 2015
Surprise Surprise! Kenny Bayless is ref for #MayweatherBerto — Adam Zimmer (@AdamDZimmer) August 27, 2015
Kenny Bayless aka Floyd's boy gets the nod again.... https://t.co/3iu6zdg6lB
— Ray (@Mr__Hdez) August 27, 2015
Before Floyd's fight vs Pacman last May 2, former world champion Oscar de la Hoya expressed disappointment over Kenny Bayless' selection. He said the 64-year old boxing official is favoring the currently undefeated world champion.
"I think it favours Mayweather, absolutely," De La Hoya told Yahoo Sports,
"There is no secret about that. I had heard Kenny Bayless was going to be the referee and that's one point for Mayweather right there. If you notice every fight Mayweather has had with Kenny Bayless (as referee), the ref should break them up if both hands are tied up and they're not throwing punches."
"If you notice, for instance with (Marcos) Maidana, when they got in close, right away Kenny Bayless would break them up. One hand would be free from the clinch, but he still broke them up. It's an advantage for Mayweather."
Bayless has since then explained what went on during the Mayweather-Maidana fight. He said he deducted points from the latter because he was violating the rules.
“I think that it was in the next round when Maidana wrestled Floyd with his forearm in his face and just literally threw him to the ground. At that point, I took a point from Maidana,” Bayless told RingTV.
“It was obvious that what he did was very intentional, so I took a point from him. At that point, I just tried to stay as close to the action and tried to prevent anything that might occur again after that.”
