Mickey Vann refs Hatton...again

dondada · Post by **dondada** » 27 Mar 2004, 06:45

I understand that Mickey Vann will be refereeing Hatton-Pinto. I'm sure someone will know the stat on how many of the Hitman's fights Vann has reffed but off the top of my head I will say...it's too many.

Does anyone see a problem with the situation or, as long as Vann does his job, is it OK? How do these repeat appointments keep happening or being allowed to happen?

Twinkle Toes · Post by **Twinkle Toes** » 27 Mar 2004, 06:53

hmm it seems a bit odd, but has Vann done a lot wrong in the fights he has reffed for Hatton?

From what I can remember he fucked about a bit in the Magee fight, seeming to give Hatton more time to recover.

MightyWarrior · Post by **MightyWarrior** » 27 Mar 2004, 07:24

This is just getting ridiculous - Vann....again??!! Are they out for a world record or something?
Why can't they find another decent ref to do the job? The fact is it just looks wrong.
There's bound to be raised eyebrows in the U.S when they see the very familiar face of Vann grinning into the camera when he's introduced.

If I were managing Pinto I'd be putting in a complaint about it.

neil r · Post by **neil r** » 27 Mar 2004, 07:26

theres no doubt mickey vann has refereed many of hattons fights. infact vann deals with this in his autobiography...

"the luck of the draw means you dont get to referee some boxers at all, whereas you are appointed to almost every fight others. i've been lucky enough to be in charge of nearly all of Ricky Hattons WBU light welterweight title fights."

He goes on to state that the only time anyone made any objections to this was the Eamonn Magee fight which was Vanns 7th Hatton fight on the bounce. He claims that Eamonn said he definately "did not want an English referee" but other than that there were no objections and he put Magees comments down to 'smoke and mirrors from a camp that knew their man couldnt knock Ricky out' particularly since, as he states " both fighters have the chance to object to the officials when the appointments are first made and none were forthcoming"

He goes on to state.... "As far as I was concerned I had every right to referee Hatton for a seventh time. No one could point to a single incident in the first six where I had leant unfairly towards him"

So I suppose thats the main point. Vann does have a lot of Hatton fights under his belt. However no-one has raised any objections to this, despite having the right and opportunity to do so. And has there been an occasion when anyone could point to an incident and claim it as favouratism towards the Manchester fighter?

Its a difficult thing to discuss in a way. to suggest that its in some way 'iffy' that Vann gets all of Hattons fight is perhaps suggesting that there is something untoward with either his refereeing or that certain people are trying to gain an advantage by appointing him. which is maybe an area its not wise to venture into!!

As far as Im concerned it is unusual for a ref to get so many of a particluar fighters title bouts but that doesnt necesarily maen theres anything at fault.

It could just be that since Ricky is fighting in Manchester and since Mickey lives in Leeds the WBU and Sports Network are simply saving money by providing Mickey with bus fares to travel to he bout instead of spending a fortune jetting another guy in from abroad and putting him up in a good hotel!!

MightyWarrior · Post by **MightyWarrior** » 27 Mar 2004, 07:33

How many times has Vann ever given Hatton a warning, and how many warnings has he dished out to his opponents in the 10 or so fights he's been in charge of? ( mind the head son! )

I'd be interested to know the answer to that one.

REAL_DEAL · Post by **REAL_DEAL** » 27 Mar 2004, 07:34

Fact of the day Vann has refed these Hatton WBU fights

Tackie
Rios
Smith
Magee
Krivolapov
Rowsell
Pendleton
Bailey
Rowland
Pep

So 10 of the Last 12 title fights

:x

beduff · Post by **beduff** » 27 Mar 2004, 08:24

next you will be saying if it wasnt for vann hatton would not of won these fights,stop going down the same roads at the end of the day vann is a top class ref who is not biased in any way.

MightyWarrior · Post by **MightyWarrior** » 27 Mar 2004, 08:44

beduff wrote:next you will be saying if it wasnt for vann hatton would not of won these fights,stop going down the same roads at the end of the day vann is a top class ref who is not biased in any way.

You're right, there's nothing remotely strange about having the same English ref for all your hometown fights. He's done 10 of his fights so far, why not the next twenty too? If it aint broke, don't fix it right?
I'm sure the rest of the boxing world will understand the situation and Hatton will get no critisism at all.
Warren just realises there is no other ref good enough to work a Hatton fight, other than his good mate Mickey.

What do you think people would say if Sven Ottke had the same German ref working all his title fights?

adamiw · Post by **adamiw** » 27 Mar 2004, 09:36

i respect Vann alot, one of our best but it's wrong for him to ref this once again. It just isn't right.

bennie · Post by **bennie** » 27 Mar 2004, 10:11

Brilliant scoop, Ian. Now all we need is Belgium's Daniel Van Der Wiele to be given the Brodie-Chi fight again (or Roger Tillemann).
More seriously, this decision stinks. Vann is Hatton's own referee. Can you imagine if Pinto's long, raking punches open a bad cut on Ricky. I can just see Vann saying theatrically: "accidental clash, accidental clash!" to the judges, so it goes to the cards if it is stopped.

dondada · Post by **dondada** » 27 Mar 2004, 10:35

Great knowledge Real Deal!

I know what a couple of the posters here mean when they say Vann may not have made any mistakes, etc but MW hit the nail on the head with his first post.

It just looks wrong. Remove all potential accusations of favouritism by getting someone else to do the job now and again.

beduff · Post by **beduff** » 27 Mar 2004, 10:38

sven ottke is a different story mw,hatton has class as usual your knocking instead of praising.

dondada · Post by **dondada** » 27 Mar 2004, 10:50

Nobody is knocking Hatton as far as I can see. I hope he blasts all and sundry in his path.

It doesn't matter who it is...no one should have the same ref for 10 out of 12 title fights.

REAL_DEAL · Post by **REAL_DEAL** » 27 Mar 2004, 11:06

Ian 'Mr' McNeilly wrote:Great knowledge Real Deal!

I know what a couple of the posters here mean when they say Vann may not have made any mistakes, etc but MW hit the nail on the head with his first post.

It just looks wrong. Remove all potential accusations of favouritism by getting someone else to do the job now and again.

thanks

i looked a few up on BBN to make sure, i will be going to the hatton - pinto match, see you there if you are going

bennie · Post by **bennie** » 27 Mar 2004, 11:08

bennie wrote:
REAL_DEAL wrote:Fact of the day Vann has refed these Hatton WBU fights

Tackie
Rios
Smith
Magee
Krivolapov
Rowsell
Pendleton
Bailey
Rowland
Pep

So 10 of the Last 12 title fights
:x

Who's refereed the other two, Chris?

REAL_DEAL · Post by **REAL_DEAL** » 27 Mar 2004, 11:15

bennie wrote:
bennie wrote:
REAL_DEAL wrote:Fact of the day Vann has refed these Hatton WBU fights

Tackie
Rios
Smith
Magee
Krivolapov
Rowsell
Pendleton
Bailey
Rowland
Pep

So 10 of the Last 12 title fights
:x
Who's refereed the other two, Chris?

Phillips - Ian John Lewis
Joe Hutchinson - Ian John Lewis

bennie · Post by **bennie** » 27 Mar 2004, 11:17

REAL_DEAL wrote:
bennie wrote:
bennie wrote:
Who's refereed the other two, Chris?
Phillips - Ian John Lewis
Joe Hutchinson - Ian John Lewis

Cheers. Perhaps John-Lewis ought to loan Vann his trademark saying, with a slight twist. Nobody would blink an eye if Vann said in the pre-fight instructions: "I am Hatton's referee!"

hitman_hatton1 · Post by **hitman_hatton1** » 27 Mar 2004, 11:56

i agree this is becoming ridiculous

vann is a very good referee but to be reffing every fight like this just looks wrong.

get someone else to do it there's plenty to choose from.

Goz · Post by **Goz** » 27 Mar 2004, 12:08

The annoying thing about it is that even if there is nothing suspicious going on and Vann is not under any instructions to 'look after' Ricky in a crisis, to the rest of the boxing and indeed sporting world it gives ammunition and looks dodgy. Therefore it's a stupid decision.

Imagine Man.Utd had the same ref for 10 of their first 12 Champions League matches, the whiff of scandal in the air would be over-powering.

Personally I don't think Vann would 'cheat' per se in the manner that the ref of the Ottke-Reid fight did but in the event of Hatton getting a bad cut he might get the benefit of the doubt in certain situations.

MightyWarrior · Post by **MightyWarrior** » 27 Mar 2004, 12:44

Goz wrote:The annoying thing about it is that even if there is nothing suspicious going on and Vann is not under any instructions to 'look after' Ricky in a crisis, to the rest of the boxing and indeed sporting world it gives ammunition and looks dodgy. Therefore it's a stupid decision.

Imagine Man.Utd had the same ref for 10 of their first 12 Champions League matches, the whiff of scandal in the air would be over-powering.

Personally I don't think Vann would 'cheat' per se in the manner that the ref of the Ottke-Reid fight did but in the event of Hatton getting a bad cut he might get the benefit of the doubt in certain situations.

Yeah that's the trouble. Vann is likely honest enough ( though he must feel a certain loyalty to Hatton, it'd be hard not to ) but like you say goz, it just gives ammunition to those American critics who drone on about him being a Paper Tiger etc..He was certainly matched carefully for a lot of fights, but at least now he's stepped up he's proved himself world class.
I'm not knocking Hatton either, he didn't choose the ref, we know who did that!
This is a dangerous fight next Sat, and it seems Ricky insisted on it himself, good luck to him!

On the two occasions when Mickey Vann wasn't refereeing Hatton's fights, he was probably a ringside judge instead.

bennie · Post by **bennie** » 27 Mar 2004, 12:49

MightyWarrior wrote:
Goz wrote:The annoying thing about it is that even if there is nothing suspicious going on and Vann is not under any instructions to 'look after' Ricky in a crisis, to the rest of the boxing and indeed sporting world it gives ammunition and looks dodgy. Therefore it's a stupid decision.

Imagine Man.Utd had the same ref for 10 of their first 12 Champions League matches, the whiff of scandal in the air would be over-powering.

Personally I don't think Vann would 'cheat' per se in the manner that the ref of the Ottke-Reid fight did but in the event of Hatton getting a bad cut he might get the benefit of the doubt in certain situations.
On the two occasions when Mickey Vann wasn't refereeing Hatton's fights, he was probably a ringside judge instead.

Interesting thought. I wonder if anyone would know that. It would mean Vann has been involved in every one of Hatton's 'world' title fights.
Did he referee the Thaxton fight, too?

REAL_DEAL · Post by **REAL_DEAL** » 27 Mar 2004, 12:50

bennie wrote:
MightyWarrior wrote:
Goz wrote:The annoying thing about it is that even if there is nothing suspicious going on and Vann is not under any instructions to 'look after' Ricky in a crisis, to the rest of the boxing and indeed sporting world it gives ammunition and looks dodgy. Therefore it's a stupid decision.

Imagine Man.Utd had the same ref for 10 of their first 12 Champions League matches, the whiff of scandal in the air would be over-powering.

Personally I don't think Vann would 'cheat' per se in the manner that the ref of the Ottke-Reid fight did but in the event of Hatton getting a bad cut he might get the benefit of the doubt in certain situations.
On the two occasions when Mickey Vann wasn't refereeing Hatton's fights, he was probably a ringside judge instead.
Interesting thought. I wonder if anyone would know that. It would mean Vann has been involved in every one of Hatton's 'world' title fights.
Did he referee the Thaxton fight, too?

no that was Paul Thomas

nickd · Post by **nickd** » 27 Mar 2004, 13:27

They are having a laugh, again.

REAL_DEAL · Post by **REAL_DEAL** » 27 Mar 2004, 13:27

Is Vann alowed to ref in america?

neil r · Post by **neil r** » 27 Mar 2004, 17:08

REAL_DEAL wrote:Is Vann alowed to ref in america?

hes reffed there several times as well as judging.