Did anyone listen to it? I mean what an absolute muppet, how can any supposed A star British referee not know who Jack Catterall was before he was about to ref an undisputed fight!! He openly admitted reffing Taylor before and thought he'd smash the unknown Catterall to bits.. I'm glad they binned him and there's a few more they should too
yeah I listened to it last night - the ounce of respect I had for him is hanging by a thread now let me tell you
That's crazy. But tbh maybe it's a good thing that refs don't know any of the fighters. They're there to enforce the rules professionally. Pre conceived ideas about fighters may give loaded decisions.
I think that ref had Ian John Lewis inside him in the 9th in Fury fight. Looked to have the same dangerous indecision he so frequently had. How he never got someone seriously injured or worse when he was a ref… either too early or too late.
I find it hard to believe he didn't know who Jack was, he's been a referee on some of the same cards as Jack prior to Taylor.
He is a terrible referee and I don't believe that is up for debate. Some of the most ridiculous debacles ever seen in a ring come at the hands of this bloke. He is awful.
He has done a lot for boxing at grass roots level but the fact is he is either incompetent or corrupt (he's also a policeman) with all the evidence there to see over the years. Whichever it is, he has been allowed to continue referring and judging right up until he can draw his bobby's pension despite being responsible for derailing several fighters careers. You can only assume there is a shortage of experienced referees in the sport. The beating he let Shannon Briggs take by Vitali Klitschko was shocking.
In the twelfth the commentator said "Ian John Lewis is excellent and he will stop it if he has to" with about a minute left on the clock.
I quite enjoyed the interview, but he doesn't seem to accept he's made errors really. Essentially just says ah well, everyone's entitled to an opinion. Then made out he's happy doing more of a grass roots thing, when he's clearly not. I'm still not sure whether I think boxing is riddled with corruption, judging wise, or whether it's just run by thick ****ers.
I don't think he's corrupt. Just incompetent with a 'I know best' mindset, which is a dangerous combination.
His problem was that when something unexpected happened - for example, when the bell sounded early in Maccarinelli v McPhilbin - he froze.
He was gifted jobs in top level boxing despite being crap, then he blames racism for his incompetence. Bellend.
