Officials selected for Pacquiao-Bradley rematch

There will be some fresh faces judging the April 12 rematch between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley at the MGM Grand Garden. But the third man in the ring has a very familiar face.

The Nevada Athletic Commission Tuesday approved Las Vegas’ Glenn Trowbridge, Florida’s Michael Pernick and John Keane of Great Britain to judge the fight, which will be for Bradley’s World Boxing Organization welterweight title. Las Vegas’ Kenny Bayless was selected to be the referee.

In addition, the NAC approved the 35-year-old Pacquiao for a license. All fighters age 35 and older must apply annually for their license to compete in Nevada.

“We spent the last two weeks working with both camps to identify the best possible officials to work the fight,” NAC chairman Francisco Aguilar said. “I looked to see who worked both Pacquiao’s and Bradley’s recent fights and we wanted to have a large pool of officials to choose from.”

There were 14 judges on the original list, and both camps had some objections. But in the end, they were fine with the selections by the commission.

“You want the best officials, regardless of where them come from,” said Top Rank president Todd duBoef, whose company represents both Pacquiao and Bradley. “When they play the Super Bowl, they don’t worry if the game’s in California or at the Superdome in Louisiana. The NFL picks the best officials.

“I think the commission did a very good job in vetting the officials and the selection they made.”

When Pacquiao and Bradley first met on June 9, 2012, at the Grand Garden, three Las Vegas judges worked the fight, which ended in controversy as Bradley won a 12-round split decision in a fight many observers believed Pacquiao won going away. Duane Ford and C.J. Ross both scored the fight 115-113 in favor of Bradley while Jerry Roth had Pacquiao winning 115-113. Ford has since retired and Ross did not re-apply for her judge’s license to work in 2014.

Bayless last worked a Pacquiao fight on Dec. 8, 2012 when Pacquiao met Juan Manuel Marquez for the fourth time and was dramatically knocked out at the end of the sixth round by Marquez. According to BoxRec.com, Bayless has never worked one of Bradley’s fights nor has Trowbridge judged any of his fights.

Trowbridge has judged Pacquiao’s fights before. In 2011, he had Pacquiao beating Marquez 116-112 in their third meeting which Pacquiao won by majority decision. He also worked Pacquiao’s win earlier that year over Shane Mosley, scoring the fight 119-108 which Pacquiao won by unanimous decision.

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