The champion gets what the champion wants.
This was the gist of Uisma Lima’s message to the International Boxing Organisation, agreeing to defend his IBO super welterweight championship against Shervantaigh Koopman in South Africa only if there was a dominant number of neutral officials.
And so it is. The IBO has assigned referee Mikael Hook of Sweden plus one judge from each of England (Howard Foster), Tony Nyangiwe (SA) and Roger Nii Bonney Barnor (Ghana).
Andile Matika (SA) will be the fight commissioner.
Lima’s request shouldn’t be surprising given several dramas that have played out in local rings in recent years.
Hook is as experienced as they come, having judged over 450 bouts and refereed almost 300 all across Europe and the Middle East.
Foster, too, is vastly experienced, having officiated over 2000 bouts, one of the most recent being Martin Bakole against Efe Ajagba. He also worked Jaime Munguia versus Bruno Curace a fortnight ago.
Nyangiwe, from Soweto, is also very experienced and recently entered his third decade of work as a boxing official.
Barnor, who has had assignments mainly in west Africa, has done over 1000 fights and brings the weight of that experience to Emperors Palace on May 31.
