Nevadan is 3rd man in the ring

Kenny Bayless of Nevada will be the third man on the ring when Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales slug it out at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas on Jan. 21.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission made the announcement last Monday or 12 days before the awaited rematch between two of the world’s greatest super featherweights.

Bayless, a protégé of American referee Richard Steele, has handled similarly big or even bigger fights in the past, and is described in one boxing website as a "decent" referee.

He officiated the Roy Jones-Antonio Tarver fight in November of 2003, the Shane Mosley-Raul Marquez bout on the same year, and the Bernard Hopkins-Oscar dela Hoya battle in September of 2004.

The judges for the Jan. 21 fight billed as "The Battle" are Dave Moretti, Jerry Roth and Paul Smith. Like Bayless, they all come from Nevada.

The coming fight between Pacquiao and Morales, which will be aired on pay-per-view, is the first big one this year.

Pacquiao and Morales met for the first time in March last year with the Mexican three-time champion running away with a unanimous decision after 12 rounds of action.

Joe Cortez was the referee then. In the fifth round, the two boxers collided heads-on and Pacquiao ended on the losing end, suffering a deep, nasty and bloody cut on his right eyebrow.

Cortez, however, ruled it as a "good punch," saving the Mexican boxer from any deduction and making it very difficult for the Filipino who bravely held his ground the rest of the way.

Slow-motion replays of the collision clearly showed that the head-butt, which appeared accidental, and not a "good punch" caused the cut, which had blood flowing freely on Pacquaio’s face.

Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s American trainer, said after that March encounter that the "headbutt turned out to be the best punch of the fight."

A boxing insider said Cortez is a referee who’s used to "favoring Mexican fighters." He said he could only hope that Bayless turns out to be a "decent" one as he is described in the website.