By: Sean Crose
With the fight serious boxing fans have been waiting for less than a week away, the Nevada State Athletic Commission has chosen its officials for the Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin middleweight superbout Saturday night at the T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas. Dave Moretti and Adalaide Byrd, both of Nevada, have been chosen as judges, as has Connecticut’s Don Trella. The referee will be Kenny Bayless. The officials were named at a Monday morning meeting. All of the names picked are well known to fight fans. Bayless was the referee of Canelo’s last fight, against Julio Caesar Chavez Jr., back in July.
As for the judges, Moretti was scoring the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor match last month before Mayweather stopped his man in the 10th. Trella’s last big bout was in England, where he judged the Anthony Joshua-Wladimir Klitschko superfight until Joshua settled matters in the 11th. Byrd’s last notable fight was also in England, when, back in May, she judged the Errol Spence Jr-Kell Brook clash before it concluded violently in the 11th, as well. Canelo has traditionally done well with judges, even controversially getting the nod from one official after his famed, ultimately losing, battle against Floyd Mayweather back in 2013.
Canelo, however, clearly has prepared for any contingency. If the man’s physique is any indication, he obviously isn’t willing to simply survive against Golovkin in the hope that the judges will give him the nod. Indeed, much is being made of the shape the red haired star has been spotted in as the days leading up to the bout pass quickly. Some have taken to claiming Canelo looks much bigger, or at least much more muscular, than is usually the case. This may not be a cause for surprise, however, as this will be the fighter’s first legitimate foray into the one hundred sixty pound realm.
Still, numerous publications are bringing up the fact that many feel Golovkin won’t be treated fairly if this weekend’s fight lasts an entire twelve rounds. And, to be fair, boxing officials are often the source of their own tarnished reputations. Insanely wide scores, inexplicable scores and scores that some even feel point to corruption have led to a profound level of suspicion among the sport’s fanbase at times. With that being said, boxing can be an extremely subjective endeavor and scoring is very much a matter of interpretation and perspective.
Hopefully fans will walk away from Saturday’s throwdown satisfied that the officials did their jobs to the best of their abilities.
