Started off reffing fights in his native South Africa before his first title fight between Romeo Anya and Arnold Taylor in 1973 and has been in big fights since his retirement 2 years ago. Was he a good ref?
More than competent but when reffing homeboy Gertie Coetzee he let the bionic boy get away with murder trying to throw/lean/shove Mike Weaver over the ropes several times and hold like an octopus.
He refereed a lot of big fights over the years, kind of like Carlos Padilla and the bad luck referee, Octavio Meyran, who is best known for refereeing Tyson vs Douglas in 1990. When Meyran was the referee, the champion usually lost. Except for the Weaver fight, I think he was a hands on, observant referee. I liked Arthur Mercante Sr. His son Jr was also a referee in New York.
He made a sweet move at the end of Pryor-Arguello I and leapt between them at the exact perfect time. Gave Arguello every chance but when Pryor started landing those last smashing rights he came flying in right on time.
