Report: Referee out of Pacquiao-Bradley bout
LAS VEGAS – Robert Byrd, the referee who’s supposed to work the third fight between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley this Saturday (Sunday in Manila), has pulled out of his assignment, citing a medical condition.
A report by Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review Journal quoted Byrd as saying that he cannot be 100 percent ready to officiate the fight.
“It (medical condition) is nothing serious. But if I can’t be 100 percent for those two guys, I shouldn’t be in the ring,” Byrd told Carp.
Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach earlier declared his vote of confidence for Byrd, who was also the third man in the ring when Pacquiao and Bradley first fought in 2012.
"I know him (Byrd) well, he's a veteran. He's been around for a long time. So I think they're all fair. We should have no problem," Roach said of Byrd, who incidentally was the third man in the ring in Pacquiao-Bradley 1.
Byrd will reportedly be replaced by Tony Weeks, another veteran referee who has also been involved in some of Pacquiao’s past fights.
Weeks officiated Pacquiao’s fights with Marco Antonio Barrera and Oscar Dela Hoya in 2007 and 2008, respectively, and the third bout between the Filipino and Juan Manuel Marquez in 2011. – Dino Maragay
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