Having refereed over 450 pro bouts, England’s Terry O’Connor will be the right man to take charge when Kevin Lerena puts his IBO cruiserweight belt on the line against Roman Golovashchenko in Azerbaijan later this month.
The IBO recently confirmed its officials for Lerena’s second title defence, which will be supervised by Philippe Verbeke.
O’Connor has a wealth of experienced and in recent years has handled big fights involving George Groves, Joseph Parker, Martin Murray and Ricky Burns, among others.
In the event of judges being required, the duties will fall to Dave Parris (UK), Matteo Montella (Italy) and Giulio Piras (Italy).
Parris, a former pro boxer himself, has judged almost 600 fights, most recently officiating in the controversial Vincent Feigenbutz-Ryno Liebenberg bout. He also did duty in the Errol Spence-Kell Brook bout.
The Italian pair, meanwhile, are also experienced officials having worked big fights for the like of Kevin Johnson, Isaac Dogboe and Anthony Yarde. Interestingly, Piras was on hand for Tommy Oosthuizen’s recent defeat to Igor Mikhalkin.
“As they are neutral officials, I have no complaints,” said Rodney Berman. “Kevin is already in great shape and I expect him to produce the goods as he always does.”
