O'Neil was a pretty hefty ref I remember from the 80's & 90's. I was watching a fight between Roger Mayweather & Darryl Tyson on ESPN. I remember O'Neil breaking the fighters & shoving Mayweather into the ropes. He had been holding a lot I think. Larry Hazzard pops up to say something to O'Neil but he turns pointing his finger at Hazzard almost as if he was saying "sit down". I never saw O'Neil ref after that. Anybody remember this fight? From 1993 I think.
I remember the fight but not the pushing incident. I think O'neil refed after that but not sure. I remember he was hugley overweight. edit: I looked at boxrec. He never refed in NJ again. Hazzard must have axed him. He did ref in PA many times afterward. Maybe he had jetlag, according to box rec, he refed a fight in Scottland two days before the Mayweather fight, then did a fight in Spain two days later. I thought he did a good job in the Bert Cooper/Michael Moorer fight. He stayed out of the way. I didn't even remember he refed that fight but boxrec says he did.
The miracle of YouTube! This bout is now online. The round in question is the eighth. This content is protected
Dude, I remember this incident vividly, but couldn't remember the fight it happened in. Thanks for posting the vid, I will check it out again. Incidentally, I was curious after you mentioned did he ever ref again. I checked it out and the answer is yes, he went on to ref almost another 10 years, including a number of WBO and WBU title fights. However, it should be noted, he was receiving a ton of work in New Jersey from the start of his officiating career and that was the last time he ever reffed or judged in New Jersey. So, apparently, Hazzard wasn't too keen on being told to sit down.
