BoxRec

You're the away fighter. Fighting a Briton in Britain in a world title fight.

Why would you accept a British ref and especially one with a history of dubious decisions like the dreaded Howard Foster?

Do they not know?

Maybe they don't. Language barriers and all. Many fighters only pay attention to their own fights, and not the Boxing scene at large.

Maybe they had no choice

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑29 Aug 2026, 17:13 Maybe they had no choice

That's probably it. B side vs golden goose.

If they had any idea of how poor he is they would surely have declined to have him reffing so you have to assume it's ignorance of how bad he is.

Frank will be playing chess. He would’ve offered them a narrow choice of three or four refs, and the other choices would be even worse, something like Marcus McDonald, and that guy who waved off the Wardley Huni fight.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑29 Aug 2026, 17:13 Maybe they had no choice

Lots of fighters have protested the choice of ref thru boxing history. It's a vacant world title, Moses doesn't have all the leverage.

Riddick Bowie wrote: ↑29 Aug 2026, 17:27

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑29 Aug 2026, 17:13 Maybe they had no choice

Lots of fighters have protested the choice of ref thru boxing history. It's a vacant world title, Moses doesn't have all the leverage.

True. Hrg was the mandatory

Hrgovic should definitely have rejected Foster as the referee

Hrgovic wasn't the mandatory, Sanchez was. And Itauma-Hrgovic had already been agreed as a non-title fight before the IBF belt was added.

If anything, the title being added weakened Hrgovic's bargaining position over the officials. He'd already agreed to fight Itauma in Britain, then suddenly got upgraded into a vacant world-title fight he wasn't originally entitled to. He was hardly going to risk blowing that opportunity up over the choice of referee.

MightyWarrior wrote: ↑29 Aug 2026, 17:19 Frank will be playing chess. He would’ve offered them a narrow choice of three or four refs, and the other choices would be even worse, something like Marcus McDonald, and that guy who waved off the Wardley Huni fight.

I think it’s the BBBofC that appoints the ref, rather than it being part of the contract negotiation.

JC wrote: ↑29 Aug 2026, 17:35

MightyWarrior wrote: ↑29 Aug 2026, 17:19 Frank will be playing chess. He would’ve offered them a narrow choice of three or four refs, and the other choices would be even worse, something like Marcus McDonald, and that guy who waved off the Wardley Huni fight.

I think it’s the BBBofC that appoints the ref, rather than it being part of the contract negotiation.

That’s correct

There professionals they would know how bad he is. But probably getting paid well and don't want to rock the boat. However probably don't relize how valuable and needed they are Moses needs this fight a lot more than Philip Moses needs to step up and really who is there that he can step up with without taking a bigger risk . AGIT , DD , not many around is there

Once you agree to fight under BBBoC rules you know they are going to appoint the officials. It’s one of the reasons it’s tough to win away.
Away fighters managers sometimes kick up a fuss in the press before the fight to try and ensure their guy gets a fair shake.
I remember Joe Parker’s manager did actually object to the appointment of Terry O Connor when he fought Hughie and the Board agreed to change to Marcus McDonnell. O Connor became a judge and scored it wide for Parker, and Peter Fury went mad and said he’d been influenced by the campaign from Parker’s camp.

They agreed because they knew he wouldn’t need to intervene.

Hrgovic and his team beat Foster last night.

TheLeprechaun wrote: ↑29 Aug 2026, 17:15 If they had any idea of how poor he is they would surely have declined to have him reffing so you have to assume it's ignorance of how bad he is.

I refuse to believe hrgs team with millions at stake is more ignorant to refs than me….