By: Danny Serratelli
Recently Manny Pacquiao explained how inmates on death row get anything they want for their last meal prior to their execution. Manny joked this was why he gave Floyd and team Mayweather everything they wanted for the fight this Saturday. Mayweather demanded the A-side treatment on every negotiable item when it came to the details and particulars of this fight and team Pacquiao has given in to those demands.
Floyd’s name must be listed first everywhere and he must enter the ring last. Mayweather Promotions also had to be the lead promoter. Mayweather Promotions will have the last say in all event planning. Boxing allows fighters competing on a card to also act as the promoter. While the commission is responsible for paying the officials, the money comes from the promoter.
Twenty eight years ago Marvin Hagler made a mistake when he let Sugar Ray Leonard pick the gloves, the size of the ring and allowed the bout to be cut to 12 rounds from 15. Hagler, like Pacquiao for this weekend’s fight, wanted to make sure the fight happened so he let his opponent dictate all the terms of the fight. That decision cost Marvin Hagler and the conditions appear to be a lot worse for Pacquiao considering all details.
The difference in that fight came down to interpretation. Judge Lou Fillipo (115-113, Hagler) favored the champion who he felt was the aggressor and made the fight, while Judge Dave Moretti (115-113, Leonard) favored the boxer who fought in spurts and closed the rounds out. Judge Moretti who favored Leonard that night will be one of the judges for Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, and he has quite a history with Floyd.
This is not a critique of any of the officials for the fight, as all are accomplished professionals; it is simply a closer look at some details and history, and some facts that both camps should have considered. Las Vegas judge Dave Moretti has judged 7 of Floyd’s last 9 fights, and 9 of his last 14 fights. He scored both Maidana fights the same way, except Maidana lost a point in the 2nd fight. In the 2nd Maidana fight his score was the same as one of the judges 116-111 and they had Mayweather by a wider margin than the 3rd judge.
In the first Maidana fight, Moretti had the same score 116-112 for Floyd, but that was a closer fight. The Brickcityboxing.com/Doghouseboxing.com card had the same score as judge Michael Pernick’s at 114-114. The 3rd official judge, who inexplicably had that fight 117-111 (9 rounds to 3), and that 3rd judge was another judge assigned to judge Saturday night, Reno Nevada’s Burt Clements.
Clements was the only judge to score Mayweather’s victory over Juan Manuel Marquez a clean 12-0 sweep and both Clements and Moretti only gave Ricky Hatton 1 round in his fight with Floyd, so they had him down 8-1 when Floyd stopped him in the 10th. The other judge had given Hatton 2 rounds while both the Brickcityboxing.com/Doghouseboxing.com scorecard and HBO’s Harold Lederman both gave Hatton 4 rounds.
This may seem like splitting hairs, but it may lead some people to believe Moretti and Clements would be favorable judges for Mayweather. On the other hand, Moretti has also judged several of Manny Pacquiao’s prior fights. While he was usually on the same page as the other judges, he had the Pacquiao vs. Cotto fight scored the closest of all 3 judges. He also had Pacquiao vs. Morales II scored the closest when Pacquiao stopped him in round 10 and scored Pacquiao vs. Morales I 115-113, in a close fight that Pacquiao lost by a decision.
Clements is responsible for Pacquiao having a draw on his record rather than a decision victory in his first fight against Juan Manuel Marquez. Pacquiao knocked down Marquez three times in the first round, and should have earned a 10-6 score. Clements admitted afterward that he didn’t realize he could score a round more lopsided than 10-7. That extra point resulted in his 113-113 scorecard that forced a draw
If team Pacquiao had any say, it seems pretty obvious they might have objected to Moretti and Clements being assigned. While it is true that they are world class judges, there should have been more of them in the discussion. One that would have seemed more favorable to team Pacquiao would have been Michael Pernick. He scored Mayweather vs. Maidana I a draw and also was the judge who had Pacquiao winning by the widest margin of all 3 judges’ cards in 2 of his last 3 fights.
While none of the assignments came as a surprise, there were a couple of moments of interest in the meeting. Bruce Trampler, a matchmaker representing Pacquiao’s promoter Top Rank Inc., said he had objections about “a couple” of the proposed officials. Asked by commissioners if he wanted to raise the objections publicly, he declined. Trampler added that he had discussed the concerns privately with some commissioners.
The 3rd judge for the fight, Connecticut’s Glen Feldman has never worked with Manny, and has only judged one of Floyd’s fights that ended early; he seems to be a good neutral choice. It should be obvious to the commission that Money Mayweather is a franchise in Vegas at this point and home town judges, especially considering some of the aforementioned details could make them questionable choices, especially if there is any controversy surrounding a decision. Also, Pacquiao is from the Philippines, Floyd the USA….what ever happened to three judges from other countries or one from each fighter’s country with a neutral judge from somewhere else?
The third man in the ring Saturday night will be Kenny Bayless. Pacquiao fans questioned his assignment because he had replaced Tony Weeks for the second Maidana fight and Floyd won that fight easier, however it didn’t have much to do with the referee and Bayless has actually been the third man in the ring more times with Pacquiao than he has been with Floyd.
Bayless will serve as referee in a Mayweather fight for the sixth time. He worked four of Mayweather’s last 10 bouts, against Oscar De La Hoya (2007), Shane Mosley (2010), Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (2013) and Marcos Maidana II (2014). He also worked Mayweather’s professional debut in 1996.
It will be Bayless’ eighth time working as referee for Pacquiao. He has served as third man in the ring for seven of Pacquaio’s last 19 bouts, dating to the fighter’s second bout with Erik Morales, in 2006.
If the fight is close or it is a fight where many rounds are difficult to score, anything can happen, but it would appear that The Money Team has set everything up to give their fighter the best chance to win the fight. This is going to put Manny Pacquiao in a difficult position where he will need a knockout, or if the fight goes the distance he can never assume he is up on the cards.