I think that's mostly right, but there don't seem to be that many refs or judges at all. That means that refs and judges frequently have hundreds of fights on their records. If you go through their records a lot of them seem to have a turf like they mostly work Nevada or New York or those regions. I see the same judges and refs over and over again. It's a tight nit community. You even see the same guys working together multiple times in a career. Like one of those recent fights Kov/Ward maybe had Dave Moretti and Julie Lederman both judging, and they'd judged together on a couple of different occassions before. There's like two or three thousand fights in America every year and what like a hundred judges, two hundred? These guys work 25-40 fights a year.
How much to they make under the table? That is the question............... Once you get into the business, you make sure you are loyal to the right promoter................
You see a lot of the same judges and refs in title fights because there is a much smaller pool who have reached that level. There are tons of 'club shows' - lower-level, non-televised cards that may have a 6-rounder as a main event with a lot of 4-rounders on the undercard - and at most of those you probably have more like four officials -- two refs and two judges, with the refs also swapping out spots to judge, etc. There are also hundreds upon hundreds of amateur judges and refs, some of whom also do pro cards.
I'll let anyone who isn't aware know: professional boxing commissions do NOT have any requirement that a new judge have amateur experience. I wouldn't think amateur judging on your resume even helps.
Yeah. My understanding is along these same lines. I was ringside for a small local show once and was chatting with one of the judges in between bouts, and he said you need to do amateur bouts, for no pay, for a minimum of 5-6 years before you can become a professional judge. He said it sucks doing all that free work on weekends, but noted that the pay is a nice supplement to other income sources if/when you reach that level. I had that chat with him about 7-8 years ago, and while the idea wasn't that appealing to me at the time, I kind of wish I had taken that path to see where it may have led.
I regret that you didn't. Think of all the "Rummy was BOUGHT" and "Rummy is in Arum's pocket" threads I could have made by now. Sigh.