MANILA, Philippines - Robert Byrd, who officiated the first encounter between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley Jr in 2012, has gotten the call to referee the third fight between the two welterweights on April 9 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
The referee, who is from Bradley's home state of California but listed as residing in Las Vegas, was chosen unanimously by the Nevada Athletic Commission's 5-person panel during their monthly agenda meeting on Thursday, March 24 (Manila time).
Byrd has been a pro boxing referee since 1983 and officiated his first world title fight in 1988 when he was the third man in the ring for Tony Lopez vs Rocky Lockride 1, which was named Fight of the Year by The Ring magazine. According to his profile on Boxrec, Byrd was a 34-year veteran of the California Highway Patrol and was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 2006 in the "expanded category."
The 3 judges named were Steve Weisfeld of New Jersey, and Dave Moretti and Burt Clements of Nevada. Neither of the 3 were involved in the first two fights. Weisfeld was one of the judges the night Pacquiao was knocked out in round 6 by Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012 but has never judged one of Bradley's fights.
Moretti has worked 7 of Pacquiao's fights but none of Bradley's. Clements has worked two fights each for the boxers.
Byrd has only previously refereed one fight of Pacquiao's, while the only other fight of Bradley's he had worked was his split-decision win over Juan Manuel Marquez in 2013.
Judging has been a constant concern during their previous two fights. Most boxing observers feel that Pacquiao deserved the decision in their first fight, but it was Bradley who had his hand raised by split-decision. Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 knockouts) earned a unanimous decision in their rematch in 2014.
Bradley (33-1-1, 13 KOs) is coming in having won two straight fights while Pacquiao hasn't fought since losing a decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr last May. – Rappler.com