Pacquiao vs. Bradley 3: Officials For Fight Selected, Roach Says Bradley 'Not Yet Recovered' From Provodnikov Fight Three Years Ago
The referee and judges for the upcoming rubber match between eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao and former WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley have been selected.
Pacquiao and Bradley are set to square off for the third time on April 9th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
In a report by Jake Donovan for Boxingscene, the man tasked to be the third individual on the ring on fight night is veteran referee is California-based Robert Byrd.
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Byrd was the same official who oversaw the first fight between Pacquiao and Bradley, in which the latter had won via a controversial split decision.
The three other officials tasked for fight night are Dave Moretti, Burt Clemens, and Steve Weisfeld, all of whom unanimously approved by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. All three judges have had the experience working on Pacquiao's fights.
Weisfeld was one of the judges during the fourth fight between the Filipino boxing icon and Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012; Moretti was tasked to judge both the first Erik Morales fight in 2006 and the Oscar De La Hoya fight in 2008, while Clemens was one of the judges during the third Marquez fight in 2011.
Clemens also judged two of Bradley fights: the one against Joel Casamayor in 2011, and against Diego Chaves in 2013.
Meanwhile, Freddie Roach believes Timothy Bradley has not yet recovered from the barnburner of a fight the latter had against hard-hitting Ruslan Provodnikov in 2013. "Desert Storm" did emerge victorious in the said fight, but was badly hurt in the process.
In a 2014 interview, he admitted to have "pissed blood" after the contest.
Roach was in Provodnikov's corner during the said fight against Bradley. Now that they will be going against each other once again, the famed trainer believes Bradley has yet to make a full recovery from the Provodnikov fight three years ago.
"Frankly, I'm not convinced Bradley has yet to fully recover from his fight with Ruslan Provodnikov," Roach said. "And that's not a knock. That fight was pure hell."
"I give him a lot of credit for surviving that battle as I do for winning it and continuing on as he has," he continued. "He's a tremendous athlete and a gutsy fighter."
