Kelly Pavlik’s team gets referee booted from fight

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The manager for world middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik said his attorney has successfully lobbied to have referee Earl Morton removed from the ring for Saturday’s light-heavyweight pay-per-view fight between Pavlik and Bernard Hopkins.

‘Morton’s a friend of Hopkins, they hang out together,’ Pavlik’s manager Cameron Dunkin told The Times. ‘I have fighters from here [in New Jersey] and Philadelphia. I know what’s going on.’

Dunkin said he lodged a formal complaint about the Hopkins-Morton association to the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board on Wednesday and has been informed that a yet unnamed replacement refere will be assigned.

Pavlik’s promoter, Bob Arum, confirmed that he received an e-mail Thursday from the state board asking him to rank from first to third a list of three possible replacements for Morton. Arum said Hopkins’ promoter, Richard Schaefer, would have the same opportunity to rank the list of three.

‘I don’t know this guy [Morton] from Adam. I hear he’s a decent referee, but if he’s a close friend of Hopkins, that’s troublesome,’ Arum said.

-- Lance Pugmire