Do We Need To Be Worried About This Referee Debacle For The Joseph Parker vs Hughie Fury Fight?
It wouldn’t be right if there was a Joseph Parker fight imminent and Duco weren’t making headlines by complaining about something. This time, with Parker preparing to take on Hughie Fury in Manchester, they’ve been spared the marketing drive of usual – meaning we don’t have to deal with pre-emptive threats against illegal streamers and the standard tetchiness about tickets and PPV prices. Instead old mate Dave Higgins has got the refereeing appointment in his scope.
And, yeah, there’s a fair point to be made there. Not only because it’s Duco’s job to have their fighter’s back and put him in the best position to succeed – just as Hennessey Sports, Peter Fury and their team are doing for their lad Hughie – but also because, you know… contracts.
The British Boxing Board of Control has designated Terry O’Connor to control this one, a veteran British referee with more than 1000 fights under his belt. Included in those are Hughie Fury’s last two fights as well as a massively controversial decision in a Tyson Fury fight one time – back in 2009 against John McDermott. But, like, don’t cry too many tears for that guy. That fight was so long ago that Fury still had hair and when they fought again nine months later Tyson got the TKO in the ninth round (with a different ref). That was a super young Fury, still only 21 at the time. He should’ve copped his first and only loss but history doesn’t look too poorly on a future heavyweight champion defeating a journeyman with a 25-5 record at the time of the first bout. Plus it was eight years ago.
Terry O’Connor has refereed in title fights before. He took charge of the second undercard at Wembley for the Eubank Jr vs Abraham fight in July. He took charge of Kubrat Pulev’s last bout in Bulgaria. He reffed the Whyte vs Chisora fight at Manchester Arena last December on the card for Joshua vs Molina. That’s all within the last year. Point being that this is a ref who has recent experience with top heavyweights, in front of massive crowds and at the Manchester Arena where this Parker vs Fury fight will be held. There aren’t too many other refs with that kind of CV available.
Yes, he’s also familiar with the Fury’s and, yes, he’s also had some dodgy decisions in the past. But this is boxing and there aren’t too many refs who wouldn’t have been on the wrong end of a dud call at some point. Tyson Fury was a no-name back in 2009, a fringe prospect with a unique background. The more high profile the fight, the more focus and attention which all goes to combat the possibility of any sneaky collusion. But there’s no reason to think there will be any in the first place, if you’re the kind of person who assumes a fight is rigged before it even happens then maybe go watch a different sport?
However this is still an appointment that Duco has good reason to be stroppy about. Their contract specifically says that they are to have neutral refs and judges and yet the BBBofC have flipped a middle finger at that contract with this call (there’s a British judge on the panel as well).
You know what kinda stuff Higgins is gonna say – remember what he said about Hughie faking his injury after the NZ bout failed to happen? – so instead here’s Bob Arum speaking to Newshub:
“There are some concerns there … The British boxing board said 'hell with the contract we are appointing a English referee and English judge' and that came despite a very forceful letter from the WBO saying that all neutral officials were required. When the English get on their high horse they get really haughty and there was no dealing with them. I just think having a English referee and a English judge puts Parker at a potential disadvantage.”
(Gotta excuse Bobby for his grammar there (‘a’ instead of ‘an’!), he’s American after all).
That letter from the WBO is legit, but the BBBofC declined the suggestion. To be honest, it’s not a big enough deal for the WBO to care much further about - their heavyweight world title belt is on the line but they’re not gonna withdraw it just because of a ref. Anyway, it’s their stupid rankings that have an untested heavyweight out of the ring for seventeen months ranked as their number one contender.
There’s a lot of confusion here about exactly why the BBBofC would do something like this. Freaking out about it like the fight’s been rigged is silly NZ media stuff but it still doesn’t make complete sense. Breaking contract draws attention to them. This doesn’t do a lot for their credibility even if the ultimate answer is that they wanted the best man for the job. Hey, maybe it’s Brexit’s fault? Duco did at least manage to get them to allow a kiwi ref on the panel to balance that one out – not that it makes a difference.
By the way, the WBO don’t specifically outlaw non-neutral referees in their regulations. It does say that they will “endeavour to appoint neutral officials” but there’s nothing that says they’re a necessity. They also say that in America you’re considered neutral if you’re from a different state to either of the fighters, hence the push for neutral refs in the USA is a non-issue. It’s just that in this case one side asked for them, the other agreed, then they didn’t get them. It’s an issue specific to this fight and these promoters.
And let’s not forget the history here either. In fact, let’s list it all:
- December 2016 – WBO labels Hughie Fury their mandatory challenger, talks begin between the Fury and Parker camp.
- February 2017 – Talks reach no conclusion and they go to a purse bid… which Duco unexpectedly wins.
- March 2017 – For some reason it takes a full month after the purse bid to get the fight confirmed. Which it is, with the bout to take place in Auckland on 6 May. Hughie’s father and trainer Peter Fury is then initially denied entry to New Zealand over past criminal charges. He appeals and is eventually granted his visa.
- April 2017 – Hughie injures his back and the fight is cancelled two weeks out from the date. Razvan Cojanu steps in instead and Parker beats him comfortably (but relatively unimpressively). David Higgins rips on Hughie for faking his injury and suggests the Fury party had been obstructing things ever since they lost the purse bid.
- June 2017 – Having had it confirmed that Hughie, with a valid medical excuse for withdrawing from the first fight, remained the mandatory, a rescheduled fight was confirmed to take place on 23 September, this time in the UK.
- September 2017 – With the fight on the horizon, we’ve got this referee drama to go with rumours that the ticket sales are struggling, marketing is struggling and then the revelation that YouTube will carry the home broadcast as a PPV event.
It’s possible to read that whole list as the Fury camp wanting everything to their own advantage and getting pesky as soon as something goes against them. But Duco are doing the same thing from their point of view as well. It’s annoying but Joe Parker is still gonna be the favourite once they step into the ring. Can’t get complacent with that, of course. Hughie Fury is not a fighter to be underrated. However Parker holds the belt which is the one thing that swings this more than any of these other little factors.
Which is why it’s a little surprising that David Higgins pretty much ruled out any chance of Joseph Parker walking away from this fight. Aside from the legal repercussions of that (which can be dealt with, it’d hardly be unprecedented), Parker wouldn’t lose a lot from stepping away. Duco want him fighting in England for his profile but he could potentially get Tony Bellew or Dillian Whyte or Dereck Chisora on short notice and those might even be worth more cash and fame. It’d mean a delay in his preparations which is always a bugger but… for the greater good?
As for Hughie Fury, it’s important to separate the BBBofC from the Fury camp because there’s no way that Peter Fury can influence the governing body of all British boxing. You’re seeing in the promotion for this fight that Hennessey Sports aren’t exactly the top notch of boxing promoters out there – Bob Arum said as much too (and he is top notch). Maybe there’s a patriotic bend but Parker got some hometown advantage fighting in NZ too, it’s part of the game.
Yet there’s a lot to lose for Hughie even still. If Parker did dodge him then there goes that world title challenge he was working for. He’d then either have to take a big step back in the opponents he fights to work his way back up or he’d be left waiting for another convenient situation which could mean months more without fighting and given the health things of the past, his and Tyson’s own history with withdrawals, the slightly amateur way this fight was organised, the constant dramas they were to work with and Hughie’s own inactivity… that doesn’t exactly make him a fighter that many others will want to be bothered with. An unbeaten record helps his cause yet Hughie, even at 20-0, remains remarkably unproven all the same.
None of that’ll happen because this fight is going to go ahead as planned. Just a little odd that the threat of withdrawal wasn’t used as a bargaining tool to get the Fury’s to play nice, is all. Ah well, hopefully in a week it’ll all be in the rearview.
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