BoxRec

The British Boxing Board of Control has named British referee Terry O'Connor, the same official in charge of Hughie Fury's last two bouts to control the fight.

Parker says it's a "hometown" appointment.

"We're frankly appalled by this. We have petitioned the BBBoC multiple times to see sense but to no avail. Serious questions need to be asked of the BBBoC," Parker's manager David Higgins.

Higgins said a written request from the WBO to the BBBoC to follow its guidelines with regard to the neutrality of officials for world championship bouts has also been rejected.

"This appointment of 'home town' officials contravenes the WBO's guidelines that officials should be neutral, and clearly leaves the contest open to speculation about bias and impropriety," Mr Higgins said.

"WBO president Paco Valcárcel wrote to the BBBoC politely requesting that 'the same procedure applied by the British Boxing Board of Control in the Anthony Joshua versus Wladimir Klitschko bout, should be used on this occasion'.

"Inexplicably the BBBoC has ignored that. This is disgraceful," said Higgins.

Higgins said the appointment of a referee who has controlled Fury's last two fights breached the fight contract.

"It's entirely contrary to the spirit of the deal and the letter of the contract struck with Hennessy Sports for the title fight, the governing principal being that it would be a fair fight.

"The entire world knows that Hughie Fury is going to run away from Joseph Parker, clinch, elbow, headbutt and do whatever he can to steal a result. Having a referee with whom he is familiar clearly provides an unfair advantage,"

"Mr O'Connor refereed Hughie Fury's last two fights, so it is patently inappropriate for him to have any influence over this world title fight.
"We might have expected this sort of thing had the bout been held in a banana republic, but to see this lack of neutrality and fair play in a nation like Great Britain is staggering."

Mr Higgins said Duco Events had lobbied BBBoC successfully to have a New Zealander added to the judging panel to balance the presence of a British judge, however the BBBoC had refused repeated requests to appoint a neutral referee.

"We've formally raised these issues with BBBoC and its response has been quite frankly pathetic. They could not provide an adequate reason why they did not want a neutral referee."

WBO guidelines state that for a world title fight officials should be 'not the same nationality or place of residence or origin of the Champion or the Challenger(s), or of their respective agents'.

"BBBoC has the final say over the appointment of officials for this fight and we want to know why they have ignored the WBO's quite sensible guidelines," Mr Higgins said.

"Furthermore, Peter Fury looked me in the eye, shook my hand and said he wanted this to be a fair fight with neutral officials. I'm sure he hasn't changed his mind about that. So why would the BBBoC appoint non-neutral officials against the wishes of both camps?"

This decision has angered Parker's American promoter Bob Arum Top Rank.

"There are some concerns there and then of course while the contract expletively provided that all neutral officials would be required," Arum told Newshub.

"The British boxing board said 'hell with the contract we are appointing a English referee and English judge' and that came despite a very forceful letter from the WBO saying that all neutral officials were required.

"When the English get on their high horse they get really haughty and there was no dealing with them. I just think having a English referee and a English judge puts Parker at a potential disadvantage."

"Neutral officials, the fight was in England and all the officials including the referee were neutral. How the British board of boxing control changes direction and says they don't care what is in the contract is monstrous and outrageous. The WBO has stood up well for Parker, I just think what is happening is wrong and intolerable and it should now warn fighters and promoters from all over the world to stay away from the United Kingdom."

If the contract is so clearly broken and the sanctioning body agree then they don't have to fight? Perhaps it's the way out Fury and Hennessy need..

This is nonsense.

How many WBO title fights have nom-neutral refs/judges.

Sounds like excuses to me.

Both Ward Kovalev fights had all American officials

Covfefe wrote:This is nonsense.

How many WBO title fights have nom-neutral refs/judges.

Sounds like excuses to me.

Both Ward Kovalev fights had all American officials

Maybe because it was in a contracts I hear?

Ruthless-RKO wrote:

Covfefe wrote:This is nonsense.

How many WBO title fights have nom-neutral refs/judges.

Sounds like excuses to me.

Both Ward Kovalev fights had all American officials

Maybe because it was in a contracts I hear?

He says it's the WBO rules. It clearly can't be as there's loads of fights that clearly break that alleged rule.

SECTION 23. OFFICIALS
(a) The WBO International Officials Committee shall keep a list of officials — Judges and Referees — qualified to act in WBO World Championship contests for the purpose of the appointments to be made by the President. The President shall appoint in an impartial manner and according to availability, the officials for the World Championship contests, which shall be three (3) JUDGES who shall keep the score and ONE non-scoring Referee. However, where it may be necessary for a Referee to keep score, the President may appoint TWO (2) JUDGES and ONE (1) REFEREE to consign the score.

Covfefe wrote:

Ruthless-RKO wrote:

Covfefe wrote:This is nonsense.

How many WBO title fights have nom-neutral refs/judges.

Sounds like excuses to me.

Both Ward Kovalev fights had all American officials

Maybe because it was in a contracts I hear?

He says it's the WBO rules. It clearly can't be as there's loads of fights that clearly break that alleged rule.

Yeh, Arum did say that. In another article I read that it was in the contracts. Also, in regards to Ward vs. Kovalev, maybe WBO don't enforce them same rules when it's unification?

SECTION 24. REFEREES
(a) The Referee shall be the chief official in all Championship contests and shall be in charge of the control of the fight.

(b) Before the Championship contest begins, the Referee shall identify the Chief Second for each one of the Contestants. The Chief Seconds shall be responsible for the conduct of his or her Contestant’s corner.

(c) It is the customary act of sportsmanship that the Contestants shake hands before the fight immediately after the Referee’s Instructions and when the fight is over.

(d) The Referee shall examine the bandages and gloves of each Contestant before the fight begins to make sure that the gloves are free of any extraneous substance that could be harmful to the opponent, and that the bandages of each contestant are in conformity with the WBO World Championship Regulations.

(e) The Referee may stop the fight and consult with the ringside physician on whether, in the physician’s opinion, a contestant is physically able to continue.

(f) The Referee may impose discipline and enforce the WBO Rules and the Uniform Rules regarding the conduct and behavior of the Contestants and Seconds.

Ruthless-RKO wrote:

Covfefe wrote:

Ruthless-RKO wrote:
Maybe because it was in a contracts I hear?

He says it's the WBO rules. It clearly can't be as there's loads of fights that clearly break that alleged rule.

Yeh, Arum did say that. In another article I read that it was in the contracts. Also, in regards to Ward vs. Kovalev, maybe WBO don't enforce them same rules when it's unification?

Pacquaio-Vargas/Bradley. it's not in their rules at all.

Covfefe wrote:

Ruthless-RKO wrote:

Covfefe wrote:
He says it's the WBO rules. It clearly can't be as there's loads of fights that clearly break that alleged rule.

Yeh, Arum did say that. In another article I read that it was in the contracts. Also, in regards to Ward vs. Kovalev, maybe WBO don't enforce them same rules when it's unification?

Pacquaio-Vargas/Bradley. it's not in their rules at all.

Yeh, you're right. What makes the WBO any better than the other Orgs?

Covfefe wrote:

Ruthless-RKO wrote:

Covfefe wrote:This is nonsense.

How many WBO title fights have nom-neutral refs/judges.

Sounds like excuses to me.

Both Ward Kovalev fights had all American officials

Maybe because it was in a contracts I hear?

He says it's the WBO rules. It clearly can't be as there's loads of fights that clearly break that alleged rule.

It says guidelines, not rules. Very different thing.

Not surprised they're pissed off at the choice of ref tbh! Terry O'Conner is a fuckin cabbage!

I'd be pissed if I was Team Parker as well, I think all international title fights should have neutral officals, its a no brainer,

Boxerbeetle wrote:

Covfefe wrote:

Ruthless-RKO wrote:
Maybe because it was in a contracts I hear?

He says it's the WBO rules. It clearly can't be as there's loads of fights that clearly break that alleged rule.

It says guidelines, not rules. Very different thing.

You are right, post their guidelines.

Covfefe wrote:

Boxerbeetle wrote:

Covfefe wrote:
He says it's the WBO rules. It clearly can't be as there's loads of fights that clearly break that alleged rule.

It says guidelines, not rules. Very different thing.

You are right, post their guidelines.

Guidelines don't have to be publicly available; I have better things to do than trawl the internet for something which may not exist online. But it remains an important distinction, which is presumably why the article didn't ever refer to 'rules'.

Boxerbeetle wrote:

Covfefe wrote:

Boxerbeetle wrote:
It says guidelines, not rules. Very different thing.

You are right, post their guidelines.

Guidelines don't have to be publicly available; I have better things to do than trawl the internet for something which may not exist online. But it remains an important distinction, which is presumably why the article didn't ever refer to 'rules'.

Well seeing as though these guidelines have been broken 100s of times I don't think the WBO feel they're as important as his team does.

Cause the guidelines have never been broke before have they...

Covfefe wrote:

Boxerbeetle wrote:

Covfefe wrote:
You are right, post their guidelines.

Guidelines don't have to be publicly available; I have better things to do than trawl the internet for something which may not exist online. But it remains an important distinction, which is presumably why the article didn't ever refer to 'rules'.

Well seeing as though these guidelines have been broken 100s of times I don't think the WBO feel they're as important as his team does.

Yes I agree.

Why is it that yanks moan when a fight involving a British fighter in Britain has a British ref overseeing the bout? Our lot don't moan about yanks reffing yanks in America.

I do agree that in a world title fight, in an ideal world there should be neutral judges, or at least a mixture.

However, in practical terms that is not going to always be possible, there are not that many professional judges worldwide, who are even qualified to officiate world title bouts, and therefore availability is going to be an issue.

As far as I am aware, it is still the situation that the promoter pays the governing body for the judges fees and expenses, and therefore there is the potential for pressure from the promoter, especially

However, a sanctioning body could not have rules stating that judges could not be from the home country of one of the fighters for a world title bout, for both practical reasons, but also because it would be implying their sanctioned judges could not be trusted to be impartial, which would obviously create serious problems.

Personally I believe Browne's camp has every right to contest the allocation of judges, but also, the WBO is under no obligation to do so, for the reasons discussed, it is a guideline, and not a rule, and therefore they cannot be forced to change.

There need to be far more boxing judges than there are currently. It would ease the situation somewhat.

It's not fair but Arum is being a huge hypocrite. Look at when Crawford fought Dierry Jean in Omaha, Nebraska. Jean a Haitian-Canadian fought Crawford with an American ref, 2 continental American judges and a judge from Puerto Rico, a US territory - http://boxrec.com/en/boxer/447121

jamesmcdonnell wrote:I do agree that in a world title fight, in an ideal world there should be neutral judges, or at least a mixture.

However, in practical terms that is not going to always be possible, there are not that many professional judges worldwide, who are even qualified to officiate world title bouts, and therefore availability is going to be an issue.

As far as I am aware, it is still the situation that the promoter pays the governing body for the judges fees and expenses, and therefore there is the potential for pressure from the promoter, especially

However, a sanctioning body could not have rules stating that judges could not be from the home country of one of the fighters for a world title bout, for both practical reasons, but also because it would be implying their sanctioned judges could not be trusted to be impartial, which would obviously create serious problems.

Personally I believe Browne's camp has every right to contest the allocation of judges, but also, the WBO is under no obligation to do so, for the reasons discussed, it is a guideline, and not a rule, and therefore they cannot be forced to change.

There need to be far more boxing judges than there are currently. It would ease the situation somewhat.

Browne?

Seems as if Hennessy isn't completely incompetent after all. Terrible Tel has done the Furys favours in the past with the McDermott fight and stopping the Kassi fight on a cut etc. This is a huge plus for Hughie and may well decide the fight before a glove is thrown.

Theres rules , and theres guidelines , and theres contracts , ,Rules and guidlines can be argued about forever and a day , but black and white contracts are that . and if there is a contract , not a rule or guidline but a contract that says neutral judges and referees , well someone has broken the contract , If i was Parker with a contract and they broke it , i think i would be looking at , going to the accident and emergency around about now , with a shoulder injury from slipping in the shower , and asking Hennessy , how do you like them apples ..

. They said Peter looked them in the eye and said we want a fair fight , surely there not that gullible . If they were gullible and just believed it would all be fair , and square cos thats the british way , Parker needs to get a new manager who is'nt stupid , But if he was smart enough to have it in the contract , about neutral judges ,, Like i said Pull the pin get a doctors note ,... Then again maybee if that happenned Hennessy might be insured and recoup the losses that he is obviously going to incur .... Who knows its pro boxing

banjo wrote:Why is it that yanks moan when a fight involving a British fighter in Britain has a British ref overseeing the bout? Our lot don't moan about yanks reffing yanks in America.

Which yanks are you referring to exactly?