source: Chris Robinson | examiner.com

At the moment it is hard to think of a referee as respected or well known as Kenny Bayless. Bayless remembers becoming interested in the sport after seeing Muhammad Ali when he was featured on the Wide World of Sports yet never could have imagined the fashion in which he would parlay that curiosity into something much more profound.

One of three siblings growing up in Berkeley, California, Bayless would make the move to Las Vegas following college and was introduced to the sport on a first hand basis. From there Bayless claims that watching Ali live and seeing Roberto Duran work out in person was all he needed to become hooked on the sweet science.

Bayless first helped assist old school fighter Johnny Leeman in any way he could during live fights and found himself getting fighters their gloves and grabbing spit buckets just so he could get access into the events. Bayless later began participating in amateur judging before professional judge Jerry Roth suggested that he try out to be a referee and despite his initial reluctance he soon gave it a chance.

Bayless learned much from the likes of Richard Steele and Mills Lane and later found himself as a part of the Athletic Commission when his good friend Leeman retired. From that point forward Bayless’ chief focus was to constantly hone his skills in the sport and he soon found himself becoming involved in some of Las Vegas’ biggest showcases.

Over the years Bayless has refereed such notable fights as Roy Jones-Antonio Tarver, Bernard Hopkins-Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley-Fernando Vargas, as well as key battles featuring several other stars in the sport. This past weekend Bayless found himself venturing East towards Dallas, Texas as a principal figure in the heavily anticipated Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey card. When reflecting on the experience Bayless admits that it was a first in his book.

“I’ve done a bit of traveling over the last three years but going there was a treat,” Bayless insists. “Jerry Jones and the stadium was the talk of the whole trip. To actually go into that arena and see what he had done is unbelievable. I refereed two fights on that card, but just being in that arena was really a treat. Boxing fans can become more knowledgeable about the sport because of the internet and all of the access they have because of the internet. I ran across some great fans out there.”

After he was done officiating the Robert Marroquin-Samuel Sanchez and Alfonso Gomez-Jose Luis Castillo bouts, Bayless stuck around to check out the Pacquiao-Clottey encounter. In recent years Bayless has gotten to know Pacquiao on a first hand basis, as he officiated the Filipino’s second encounters with Erik Morales and Juan Manuel Marquez as well as his battles against Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto. Bayless remembers being instantly impressed by Pacquiao.


“The first time I saw him fight was when he fought Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM,” Bayless recalls. “He had knocked Marquez down three times in the first round. The fight ended up a draw and that was really the first time I was able to see what he was capable of doing. The first fight that I refereed of Manny’s was when he fought Erik Morales in their second fight. By then I had seen tapes of their first fight and I had seen other fights of him on tape.”

In March of 2008 Pacquiao produced one of the year’s most riveting battles when he went toe to toe with Marquez for a second time in the Valley. Bayless again had the assignment and simply shakes his head when looking back at their encounter as well as the recent years of Pacquiao's career.

“What a fight that was,” he says. “All his fights have been fights though. The Morales second fight was a good one, a real hard, tough fight. The Marquez was a very hard fight. Even in the Ricky Hatton fight, where he knocked Ricky Hatton out in two rounds was rough. Let me tell you, those were two, hard rounds.”

It’s hard to recall a contest with an atmosphere as lively as Pacquiao-Hatton, which was full of screaming fans for both participants inside of the MGM Grand. In all of his years in the sport, Bayless has never comes across anything like it.

“I told people that for as long as I have been refereeing I had never had an adrenaline rush but I got one after the first round of The Pacquiao-Hatton fight,” Bayless claims. “It was so loud in that arena with the Brits and the Filipinos that it just was over the top. It was so loud in there that I had to yell just to feel that they could hear me. After that fight when Pacquiao finally knocked Ricky Hatton out, we usually have a post fight critique where we critique the whole evening. I had lost some of my voice and that was after only two rounds. If they fight had went six, seven, or eight rounds I could only imagine what kind of shape my throat would have been in.”

Bayless insists that for any high-profile event he must prepare himself days in advance just as if he was a fighter heading into battle. Despite its ruthless nature the sport of boxing can be a delicate in several areas and Bayless must always be in top form.

“We have to control our emotions,” he states of his duties. “I’m preparing myself mentally as it leads up to the fight. Fighters like Pacquiao, Cotto, and Mayweather I don’t really have to look at any footage of them because I am tuned into to every fight that they do and I know that they are basically clean fighters. There wasn’t anything I needed to cartel other than being prepared, which we all have to do, for the unexpected, and just knowing that it could be a hard tough fight.”

This past November Bayless found himself right in the thick of Pacquiao’s challenge of Miguel Cotto’s WBO Welterweight strap, as he was the third man in the ring. The contest had its share of momentum shifts early but Pacquiao took complete control over the second half of the fight. As the fight reached the championship rounds Bayless was simply looking for an opportunity to make the right call while still trying to be fair to all parties involved.

“Miguel is a warrior,” Bayless says. “He probably would have wanted to go out on his shield like great warriors wants. But safety is our number one objective. We have to make sure that this guy is going to be available to continue their career. For me I was just looking for the right opportunity to stop it. I just wanted to make sure that when I did step in to stop it that my timing was right. Although Miguel did look at me with some disappointment the bottom line is that I was looking out for him.”

Whether dictating the flow of a huge event or officiating a smaller show, Bayless notes that he must always be on top of his game. While the process is gratifying on many fronts Bayless seems to speak as though his job is definitely taxing.

“I say to people that when that bell rings we have to have three minutes of total concentration,” he claims. “When the bell rings to stop the round our concentration still has to be there. We have to go to the corner to issue warnings and check on how fighters are doing. There is a difference during the fighting but everything is so heightened because of the chanting and the fans and there is a lot going on. When the fight is over we can kind of let our guard down. It doesn’t really have to be a mega-fight, it can be a club fight, but whenever that show is over it takes me several hours to wind down. I just can’t go home and go to bed because I haven’t wound down yet.”

While he wasn’t refereeing Pacquiao’s showdown with Clottey he was still able to take in the contest on a first hand basis. While many have been criticizing the bout, and Clottey in particular, Bayless feels that it’s up to the fighter to determine what they feel is best for them inside of the ropes.

“I thought that the fight was more like a chess match,” Bayless says. “I kind of anticipated that it would be, because Clottey doesn’t throw the volume of punches that Pacquiao throws. It appeared that Clottey didn’t want to get into any real exchanges on a toe to toe basis. You can’t blame him because Manny Pacquiao was quicker and faster. If he did that it might have been an earlier night. His game was to throw punches when it was safe to throw. I haven’t seen a tape of the fight yet but apparently his corner wanted him to throw more. I even heard in training they were just trying to get him to throw more punches. I guess he felt that he did the best he could do at the time and for that most part that is all that counts.”

When touching on Pacquiao’s impact within the sport Bayless feels that he is the star boxing has been looking for in the mold of Mike Tyson and Oscar De La Hoya over years’ past. When asked one last question as to his thoughts on a possible Pacquiao showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr., Bayless can’t take any sides yet seems to recognize the bout’s importance.

“Everybody has been looking forward to that fight. Should it happen? Yes it should happen. Everybody wants that fight to happen. I know that when fighters are negotiating fights a lot of stuff plays into it. I just hope that they can come to some mutual agreement and that all terms will be met for it to happen. When and where is it going to happen? We don’t know. Should it happen? Yes it should."

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