NAC approves eight-ounce gloves for Mayweather vs. McGregor, announces referee and judges
The Nevada Athletic Commission has made a one-time exception to allow eight-ounce gloves for this 154-pound matchup between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor.
At Wednesday’s Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) meeting in Las Vegas, the ringside judges and referee were appointed for the August 26th super showdown between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor. Sorry to disappoint, but Marc Goddard won’t be the referee.
Veteran referee Robert Byrd will be in charge of the action in the ring, marking just the second time he’s handled a Mayweather fight before. Byrd’s first time reffing Floyd was his 2013 win over southpaw Robert Guerrero. Other notable recent major boxing events Byrd has featured in include the first Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev matchup, as well as Miguel Cotto vs. Canelo Alvarez. He’s a well-respected official who has been in the fight game for more than three decades.
Your three judges at ringside will be Dave Moretti, Burt Clements, and Guido Cavalleri. Moretti and Clements were two of the judges who scored the Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao fight in 2015, with Moretti having Floyd winning 118-110, while Clements went a bit closer at 116-112. Cavalleri scored 115-112 for Mayweather over Marcos Maidana in their 2014 rematch, and otherwise has an extensive history judging fights outside the United States. I guess you can argue Cavalleri is the “international judge” McGregor’s team wanted.
Let’s get to the much bigger story, which is the NAC’s decision to approve (just once!) eight-ounce gloves for Mayweather vs. McGregor. The plan was for ten-ounce gloves, which is the actual NAC rule dictating as follows: (via ESPN)
"Athletes (boxers/kick boxers) weighing-in up to and including 135 pounds must wear 8 oz gloves in competition, while athletes weighing-in over 135 pounds (junior welterweight class and above) must wear 10 oz gloves in competition. However, athletes weighing-in over 135 but (no) more than 147 may wear 8 oz gloves in competition if both athletes agree to do so in writing on their bout agreement (contract)."
Well despite the Association of Ring Physicians (ARP) letter to the commission recommending that they don’t change their rules “Unless there is scientific evidence to support the view that such a change might improve the safety of the bout,” the NAC went ahead and changed the rules.
MMA Fighting’s Marc Raimondi has the details:
The commissioners, citing a lack of scientific evidence for their glove size rules dictated by weight class, all gave their approval. Chairman Anthony Marnell did say he was upset that Mayweather and McGregor had used the commission for promotion on social media.
“I do not like the Nevada State Athletic Commission being used as a pawn in a social media bout,” Marnell said. “Between these two, that part of this request pisses me off.
“This body is not the subject of two fighters … to create social media stir and other controversy to sell tickets and to sell DirecTV.”
Commissioner Skip Avasino, the commission’s most tenured member, said since it was a hybrid fight — an MMA fighter coming in and facing a boxer — they could grant a waiver for this occasion. But he recommend a scientific study that was first supposed to be done in 2006 regarding glove size.
You couldn’t make it up, could you? Keep in mind that Mayweather’s team was the one pushing for eight-ounce gloves, just like they did for the 2012 fight against Miguel Cotto. Funnily enough, that request was denied.
Oh yeah, and two weeks ago, NAC executive director Bob Bennett was on record as saying this:
"These regulations are in place for the health and safety of the athletes, which is of the utmost importance to the commission. Our regulations already outline the appropriate glove size according to contracted weight of a fight."
So much for that.