Conor McGregor's camp confirm they will object if Kenny Bayless is assigned to referee Floyd Mayweather contest
Team McGregor are already considering an appeal to the Nevada State Athletic Commission
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Your support makes all the difference.Conor McGregor’s camp have confirmed that they will officially object if the Nevada State Athletic Commission assigns Kenny Bayless to referee the Irishman’s professional boxing debut against Floyd Mayweather.
Bayless is one of the most famous boxing referees and has overseen many high-profile contests involving Mayweather, including his most recent three fights against Andre Berto, Manny Pacquiao and Marcos Maidana.
However, the 67-year-old sparked a minor controversy last week when the president of the UFC, Dana White, posted a video clip of Bayless discussing Mayweather’s bout against McGregor.
“I wouldn’t want to see it, because it is two different sports,” Bayless says in the short clip. “UFC and boxing are two different sports. So what’s the point?”
White shared the video clip with the caption: “Seriously? This is Kenny Bayless who works for the NSAC a potential ref for the fight. Sounds like he works for the crybaby Oscar De La Arum.”
Despite being regarded by many within the boxing community as the finest referee in the world, Bayless has been criticised throughout his career for supposedly being especially lenient on Mayweather.
As a highly defensive, economical boxer, Mayweather spends a lot of time either running from opponents or clinching, in an attempt to tire his opponent out so that he can better pick them off in the later rounds. Bayless has been accused of protecting Mayweather by repeatedly allowing him to clutch to limit the action, particularly in his rematch against Maidana.
Not that Bayless agrees with his critics. “A lot of people don’t like [Mayweather’s] style of hit and don’t get hit,” Bayless recently told the LA Times.
“But from what I see, he uses his movement to his advantage. A lot of people complain about it, along with his clinching. But he knows when to and when not to clinch, and he does it in a way that it doesn’t take away from the flow of a fight. So you just let it go.”
But that explanation is not enough for McGregor’s camp, with John Kavanagh this week confirming that they will lodge an objection should Bayless be assigned the August 26 superfight.
“Yes, I’ll be objecting to that,” Kavanagh wrote during an AMA on Boards.ie.
“If I'm speaking plainly, and I don't know how much trouble this will get me in, I think we're going to have a hard time finding a fair referee and a fair set of judges,” he recently told ESPN. “It will be very difficult for a 50- to 60-year-old boxing referee to not go into this bout a little bit biased.
“Actually, I'll throw this out there, I think [U.K.-based MMA referee] Marc Goddard should be the referee. We're already agreeing to boxing rules, boxing fight, boxing ring -- everything is done boxing.
“So, how about an MMA referee that will understand the inside fighting that will go into this fight?”
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