Judge selection process altered for Marquez-Bradley fight

In a reaction to the dubious judging of fights involving Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao in the last 16 months, Nevada has altered its selection process for judges and referees.

Starting with Saturday night’s World Boxing Organization welterweight title fight between unbeaten champion Timothy Bradley of Palm Springs and Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez, fighters’ representatives and promoters will be empowered to object to those arbiters they don’t want involved in a major bout.

“They gave us names, and they let us exclude some,” veteran promoter Bob Arum said. “We did.”

Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer said two judges and one referee on a “secondary list” of nominees for the bout were discarded, although neither Kizer nor Arum would name those dismissed.

The bout’s referee will be Robert Byrd and the judges are Robert Hoyle and Patricia Morse Jarman of Nevada and Glenn Feldman of Connecticut. Feldman most recently scored Wladimir Klitschko a 119-104 winner by unanimous decision over Alexander Povetkin in Moscow.

Hoyle scored Marquez’s 2011 majority decision defeat to Manny Pacquiao as a 114-114 draw and had Marquez ahead of Michael Katsidis, 77-74, before Marquez scored a technical knockout in the ninth round in 2010.

Morse Jarman had Marquez beating Juan Diaz, 117-111, in his 2010 unanimous-decision victory. Byrd last worked a Marquez fight in 2003.

Bradley’s manager, Cameron Dunkin, and Marquez’s trainer, Ignacio “Nacho” Beristain, participated in the conference call for the referee and judges’ selection, Arum said.

“I like the process better than it was,” Arum said.

Kizer said he previously let promoters and fighter camps know they had a voice but never engaged them via conference call.

“They’ve always had the opportunity to raise objections, but now our chairman, [Bill Brady,] has decided to make it more structured,” Kizer said.

Brady told the Las Vegas Review-Journal last month that he discussed improvements with Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, with Sandoval making Brady “aware of his concerns. He wants things done right.”

Promoters had objected to questionable judging by Nevada judge C.J. Ross -- who called the Sept. 14 Mayweather-Saul “Canelo” Alvarez bout a draw and in 2012 gave Bradley a nod over Pacquiao -- and they threatened to take their lucrative bouts to other locales. Ross went on indefinite leave after the Mayweather-Alvarez fight.

Arum said he told the panel, “we’ve lost direction,” and urges Brady and Kizer to consider using more international judges in big fights.

“By requiring two Nevada judges in these fights, we’ve lessened the pool,” Arum said.

Marquez will earn a $6-million guarantee for the pay-per-view bout at Thomas & Mack Center as he attempts to become the first Mexican fighter to win titles in five different weight classes. Bradley will earn a guaranteed $4.1 million, according to figures released Monday by Kizer.

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