Commission promises ‘best of the best’ for Mayweather-Pacquiao fight

This is one test Bob Bennett can’t afford to fail.

The executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission is still a few weeks away from deciding who he will recommend to referee and judge the May 2 megafight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand Garden. But Bennett, a former boxing judge who has been in his current position with the commission for just over 10 months, has already been doing his due diligence in deciding which referees and judges to consider.

“I’ve spent the last three weeks putting the lists together,” he said Monday. “We’re going to select the best of the best. We’re going to look for officials who are experienced and are experienced in working big fights, particularly in Las Vegas.

“We know the entire world is going to be watching so there’s added stress involved.”

Bennett will make his recommendations to the five-member commission on April 21 and the commissioners will have the final say as to who works the fight. But Bennett will have great latitude in culling his list of prospective judges and referees. He may chose to use a Nevada referee and go outside the state for some, if not all the judges. But a likely scenario would be a Nevada referee and a mix of judges — one from Nevada, one from elsewhere in the United States and the third an international judge.

Bennett will talk to both camps before he finalizes his list, which currently has close to 30 judges’ names. He realizes the referee or the judges could have a huge impact on the outcome of the fight. Witness Pacquiao’s June 2012 loss to Timothy Bradley at the MGM Grand which saw former judges Duane Ford and C.J. Ross score the fight for Bradley when the majority of the public and ringside media had Pacquiao winning easily. And when Mayweather handled Canelo Alvarez in September 2013, he only received a majority decision because Ross scored the fight a draw while the other judges, Dave Moretti and Craig Metcalfe, had Mayweather winning easily.

The topic of officials has already created a bit of a stir. There was a rumor on the Internet that Mayweather had a problem with Las Vegas’ Kenny Bayless as the referee. Bayless worked Mayweather’s most recent fight, a 12-round unanimous decision win over Marcos Maidana on Sept. 13 in a rematch of their May 3, 2014 fight. Las Vegas’ Tony Weeks was the referee in the first Mayweather-Maidana fight and both fights were tough to work.

Bayless and Weeks have also worked several of Pacquiao’s fights. Bayless did the Bradley rematch last April 12 which Pacquiao won by unanimous decision and he was also the man in charge when Juan Manuel Marquez rallied to knock Pacquiao out late in the sixth round in their fourth meeting on Dec. 8, 2012. Weeks’ last Pacquiao fight was the third installment of the Marquez series on Nov. 12, 2011, when Pacquiao won a 12-round majority decision at the MGM Grand.

Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, said he’s fine with either Bayless or Weeks as the referee for the May 2 fight.

“We never said we didn’t want Kenny Bayless,” Ellerbe said. “We have no problem with Kenny Bayless. And we have no problem with Tony Weeks. They are two of the best referees in the world.”

As for the judges, Ellerbe said he’ll talk to Bennett but he didn’t foresee any major issues there.

“We have complete faith that the Nevada Commission will get the best people possible,” Ellerbe said.

NAC chairman Francisco Aguilar promised as much Monday.

“It’s extremely important we get this right,” Aguilar said. “I know Bob is already working on it and I know he will provide us with the best possible names. But there’s no room for error on this.”

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.