Boxing: New storm brewing over judge for Joseph Parker fight

Joseph Parker during a press conference ahead of his fight with Dillian Whyte. Photosport

After the drama over the referee before the Hughie Fury fight and what has been described as a "disgraceful" and "shameful" performance by Giuseppe Quartarone in the Anthony Joshua clash, the officials are once again in the spotlight before Joseph Parker's bout against Dillian Whyte in London.

The good news for Team Parker is that Whyte's promoters Matchroom, and the British Board of Boxing Control, which has jurisdiction over the fight at the O2 Arena, are on the side of Kiwi Parker, who must win to remain relevant as a serious player in the heavyweight division.

The issue is that the WBC sanctioning body want a Canadian judge, who has remained unnamed at this point, to join an Australian and UK official on the panel of three. But Team Parker, wary of another controversy such as that provided by Italian referee Quartarone in Parker's defeat to Anthony Joshua in April, are complaining that the WBC's choice is inappropriate because of his inactivity and lack of credentials.

"There is an issue around one judge which remains unresolved," Parker's promoter David Higgins said today. "Duco, Matchroom, and the British Board of Boxing Control are in discussions with the WBC to try to resolve the final candidate to make sure the candidate has got a good track record and he's competent."

Whyte, an Englishman ranked No2 in the world by the WBC, will be defending his WBC silver heavyweight title in the fight on Sunday morning, the pair also contesting the vacant WBO international heavyweight belt.

Higgins was vocal and extravagant in his complaints against having Englishman Terry O'Connor as the third man in the ring for the Fury fight in Manchester last September.

Higgins was removed from a pre-fight press conference by security such his dramatic performance, but the tactic worked – O'Connor was replaced as referee and served instead as a judge and he scored all but two rounds for Parker.

There is a feeling in Parker's camp that they should have said more about the appointment of Quartarone as the third man in the ring for the Joshua fight. Quartarone had limited English and refused to let Parker engage on the inside with Joshua; all this after asking for a picture with the Kiwi before the bout in Cardiff.

Parker said today of his team: "They know what they're doing now… and they won't make the same mistake of ticking off on officials that we don't really know about."

Team Parker have no issue with the appointment of referee Ian John Lewis despite him being an Englishman and having been involved in two of Whyte's most recent fights, but the Canadian judge is solidly within their sights and it appears unlikely that he will be signed off.

"He is currently on [boxing statistics website] Boxrec as an inactive judge," trainer Kevin Barry said. "He's a guy who hasn't to our knowledge officiated or judged a fight in 2018; did one in 2017, two fights in 2016, one in 2015 and one in 2014. To me that is not an active international judge who takes his position as a judge seriously. This is a guy who is a part-timer, it's a hobby to him. That's where we are at. There are going to be fireworks over the next few hours.

"We've had enough problems here over the last two fights – from changing the judge in the Hughie Fury fight to the absolute disgraceful performance in the Joshua fight. All we want is to be respected and given a level playing field."

For Barry, the way Quartarone conducted himself before and during the fight remains a stain on the sport. A Sky Sports documentary on the fight showed him asking Parker for a picture and struggling to understand Barry's questions. "I thought 'are you frigging kidding me?'. This guy 'fanned' out," said Barry.

"It was shameful that we had two English-speaking two world champions fighting in a first heavyweight world unification fight in eight years and the biggest fight ever on UK soil and you put in a guy who is completely out of his depth," he added. "We should have had one of the top referees in world boxing officiating in that fight."

Parker v Whyte on Sunday morning NZT will screen live on Sky Sports pay per view: https://fanpass.co.nz/ppv/whyte-v-parker
https://www.sky.co.nz/parker-fight-competition

Patrick McKendry travelled to London with assistance from Duco Events