Klitschko’s veto Ian John-Lewis

[Old bones Ian]

Bad news for top ref Ian John-Lewis, he was due to ref the WBC title fight this saturday between Vitali Klitschko and Juan Carlos Gomez , but the Klitschko’s protested and Ian has now been replaced, the protest was because John-Lewis had refereed Gomez's last two fights.
Even though he had done a professional job, and nothing was wrong with his refereeing in either of those bouts, the Klitschko’s didn't want him.

Feel bad for the guy, it would of been his first Heavyweight championship fight.

[REAL_DEAL]

Yeah but won't be the heavyweight title probably be a Italian based fight which no one will watch. Yeah feel bad for IJL who is one of our best refs. He must be gutted and fuming at the same time.

[DG.]

Bad news for top ref Ian John-Lewis, he was due to ref the WBC title fight this saturday between Vitali Klitschko and Juan Carlos Gomez , but the Klitschko’s protested and Ian has now been replaced, the protest was because John-Lewis had refereed Gomez's last two fights.
Even though he had done a professional job, and nothing was wrong with his refereeing in either of those bouts, the Klitschko’s didn't want him.

Feel bad for the guy, it would of been his first Heavyweight championship fight.

Oh well!

I thought maybe they saw his scorecard/judging with Ian Napa and Martin Power (LondonIrish?)

[ERIC GUY]

Ian is turning into a great ref.

[gobbles]

Ian is turning into a great ref.

Don't agree. I think he is too often far away from the action, so can't intervene when he needs to and seems to like being the centre of attention. He also makes some bad calls, letting fights go on too long - recently him allowing that kid to go on against Don Broadhurst after he was a mile behind and then dropped on his face. He got another battering and ended up needing treatment and oxygen from medics.

Then on Saturday, I was shocked to see him jerking around the head and neck of a semi-conscious Bradley Pryce after he was knocked out. He was trying to get out the gumshield, but stabilising the boxer's head should have been the first priority, as Pryce was trying to get up while John-Lewis had hold of his head.

He also had an unfortunate habit of holding up a finger to the camera when he was announced as if saying "I'm number one". I know that made him unpopular with other referees.

[My T Sharp]

I am not the referee :(

[stujones]

Ian is turning into a great ref.

Don't agree. I think he is too often far away from the action, so can't intervene when he needs to and seems to like being the centre of attention. He also makes some bad calls, letting fights go on too long - recently him allowing that kid to go on against Don Broadhurst after he was a mile behind and then dropped on his face. He got another battering and ended up needing treatment and oxygen from medics.

Then on Saturday, I was shocked to see him jerking around the head and neck of a semi-conscious Bradley Pryce after he was knocked out. He was trying to get out the gumshield, but stabilising the boxer's head should have been the first priority, as Pryce was trying to get up while John-Lewis had hold of his head.

He also had an unfortunate habit of holding up a finger to the camera when he was announced as if saying "I'm number one". I know that made him unpopular with other referees.

Regarding Pryce, he was trying to put him into the recovery position, and Pryce - in his semi conscious state was making it awkard - trying to get up. Pryce actually spat out his gumshield himself when he went down, so he wasn't trying to get the gumshield.

[J]

ive always liked himn as a ref, lets the action flow

[DG.]

ive always liked himn as a ref, lets the action flow

I liked his stoppage of Rico Hoye against Clinton Woods - to this day I have no idea why he stopped it.

[rhino222]

Ian is turning into a great ref.

Don't agree. I think he is too often far away from the action, so can't intervene when he needs to and seems to like being the centre of attention. He also makes some bad calls, letting fights go on too long - recently him allowing that kid to go on against Don Broadhurst after he was a mile behind and then dropped on his face. He got another battering and ended up needing treatment and oxygen from medics.

Then on Saturday, I was shocked to see him jerking around the head and neck of a semi-conscious Bradley Pryce after he was knocked out. He was trying to get out the gumshield, but stabilising the boxer's head should have been the first priority, as Pryce was trying to get up while John-Lewis had hold of his head.

He also had an unfortunate habit of holding up a finger to the camera when he was announced as if saying "I'm number one". I know that made him unpopular with other referees.

Regarding Pryce, he was trying to put him into the recovery position, and Pryce - in his semi conscious state was making it awkard - trying to get up. Pryce actually spat out his gumshield himself when he went down, so he wasn't trying to get the gumshield.

anaesthetics and resuscitation are my field, only people who are unconscious need to go into the recovery position, its purely to protect their airway from...occlusion and from vomit should they throw up.

bradley pryce was not unconscious, he just needed support to his feet.

[rhino222]

ive always liked himn as a ref, lets the action flow

I liked his stoppage of Rico Hoye against Clinton Woods - to this day I have no idea why he stopped it.

to make clinton world champion of course, its the promoter who pays his expenses remember..

[DG.]

ive always liked himn as a ref, lets the action flow

I liked his stoppage of Rico Hoye against Clinton Woods - to this day I have no idea why he stopped it.

to make clinton world champion of course, its the promoter who pays his expenses remember..

Gwaann IJL, sue him!

[rhino222]

sue who...boxrec? ...lol..

its all allegedly of course...

[gobbles]

Regarding Pryce, he was trying to put him into the recovery position, and Pryce - in his semi conscious state was making it awkard - trying to get up. Pryce actually spat out his gumshield himself when he went down, so he wasn't trying to get the gumshield.

anaesthetics and resuscitation are my field, only people who are unconscious need to go into the recovery position, its purely to protect their airway from...occlusion and from vomit should they throw up.

bradley pryce was not unconscious, he just needed support to his feet.

If he is trying to get him into the recovery position, he should be pushing his body, not trying to push him by his head. The doctor was holding him down by his shoulders, John-Lewis had both hands on his head trying to drag him over.

[Coco]

He reffed me 10 years ago when he was Class B, I thought then how good he was, and am pleased to see how he progressed, nice guy as well.
He is unfussy and lets the action flow, too many refs like to get involved for their own ego.
Everyone has off nights, i'm sure he's made mistakes etc, but he doesn't have many bad ones and is one of our best refs

[jonny]

Its a shame for Ian John he must be gutted, So who's reffing it another British ref?

[charlieb]

Not to Knock him as a ref, but I wouldn't want the guy who'd reffed my opponent's last two 'winning' efforts, either.

This is the sport of boxing, nothing's beyond reproach, why take a chance.

.

[gobbles]

He also had an unfortunate habit of holding up a finger to the camera when he was announced as if saying "I'm number one". I know that made him unpopular with other referees.

The one-finger salute is a popular boxing gesture. Everyone does it. Try taking a photo of Bob Shannon, Joe Gallagher or Billy Graham without the one-finger salute playing a lead role. It is impossible to do anything without it, especially ref.

I like vic Loughlin's 'Yes, I can kill any man in this room' 20-yard stare.

Yeah, but he's the ref, not the bloody star of the show.

[jonny]

Not to Knock him as a ref, but I wouldn't want the guy who'd reffed my opponent's last two 'winning' efforts, either.

This is the sport of boxing, nothing's beyond reproach, why take a chance.

.

Dont agree i think once they have chosen the Officials then they should stick to them, its not right that fighters and promoters choose who they want to officiate. Its not healthy.

Cant say as I remember Ian John being biased towards Gomez in the other fights was he?

[sharon1888]

Boxers and boxers camps should not get away with deciding who they want as a referee , the WBC should have stuck to IJL as referee ,

backing down like this is not good for credibillity of WBC

[hitman_hatton1]

not good for the credibility of the wbc.

what bloody credibility?

[jonny]

Boxers and boxers camps should not get away with deciding who they want as a referee , the WBC should have stuck to IJL as referee ,

backing down like this is not good for credibillity of WBC

Too right

[stujones]

Regarding Pryce, he was trying to put him into the recovery position, and Pryce - in his semi conscious state was making it awkard - trying to get up. Pryce actually spat out his gumshield himself when he went down, so he wasn't trying to get the gumshield.

anaesthetics and resuscitation are my field, only people who are unconscious need to go into the recovery position, its purely to protect their airway from...occlusion and from vomit should they throw up.

bradley pryce was not unconscious, he just needed support to his feet.

If he is trying to get him into the recovery position, he should be pushing his body, not trying to push him by his head. The doctor was holding him down by his shoulders, John-Lewis had both hands on his head trying to drag him over.

Well I don't know, all I do know was he wasn't getting at the gumshield cause Pryce had spat it out. Maybe because he was acting strange (Pryce) that maybe they thought he would slip into inconsciousness? I don't know, the Doctor was on hand so I am sure (or at least hopefull) that anything IJL did was done with his (the Dr's) consent.

I think he is a damn fine referee, worst decision I have seen him do was when Craig Doherty defending his commonwealth title against that African (something like Malik) - that cut Docherty had should have stopped the fight. Craig admitted he couldn't see from the eye cause of it.

For me though he is the finest referee in the country, and one of the best in the world. When he reffed a big title fight in the UK, that got screened in the states - IJL got so much praise from US posters for the fact he doesn't like the sound of his own voice and doesn't get to involved.

Compare him to the likes of Steve Smoger (good ref but loves himself), Nady, and Mills Lane - they loved the attention. The british refs are excellent, but all have had their off days - I think Richie Davies and IJL are the two most consistent.

[yogi]

I like vic Loughlin's 'Yes, I can kill any man in this room' 20-yard stare.

Good, no nonsense, referee from Scotland. We're getting to see a lot more of him lately and I've noticed that every time he's on Sky he gets referred to as "one of the country's top referees" by Adam Smith during the start of the fight.

He never seems to interfere with the action but always appears to be right there when needed. Doesn't get talked about a lot which probably means that he's doing a good job. I always remember my dad saying that if nobody mentions the ref at football then he's had a good game.