Veteran Kenny Bayless will referee Wilder-Fury II

On Wednesday, the Nevada State athletic commission made an expected decision on whom will officiate the Deontay Wilder – Tyson Fury rematch in Las Vegas on Saturday night. And for the second straight Wilder defense, it will be Kenny Bayless as the third man in the ring.

Boxingscene.com senior writer, Keith Idec, relayed that Bayless was chosen by NSAC, once again, after Bayless was the referee for Wilder’s 7th round TKO in his rematch win in Las Vegas over Luis Ortiz last November:

The Nevada State Athletic Commission just approved Connecticut’s Glenn Feldman, Nevada’s Dave Moretti and New Jersey’s Steve Weisfeld as the judges for the Wilder-Fury rematch Saturday night. The NSAC also approved Nevada’s Kenny Bayless as the referee. #WilderFury2

— Keith Idec (@Idecboxing) February 19, 2020

Bayless also has experience with Tyson Fury, as he worked Fury’s first fight after his controversial draw in December 2018 with Wilder. That’s when Fury defeated Germany’s little-known Tom Schwarz in June of last year with Bayless stopping the fight in the second round.

Bayless is a veteran distinguished referee and is no stranger to World Title Mega – fights, as he was the third man in the ring for Floyd Mayweather’s 12-round decision win over Manny Pacquiao in May of 2015.

Bayless has worked many of Mayweather and Pacquiao previous biggest title defenses in Las Vegas over the course of the 2000s. This included the Oscar De La Hoya-Mayweather battle in 2007, Pacquiao’s fights with Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto in 2009. And, he worked Mayweather’s lopsided win over Canelo Alvarez in 2013.

He also was the referee in Manny Pacquiao’s WBA World Welterweight Title 12 round decision win over Keith Thurman in Las Vegas last July.

Hear a full preview of the Saturday night showdown on the Big Fight Weekend Podcast here:

Wilder and Fury fought their first bout in Los Angeles and veteran American Jack Reiss was the third man in the ring that night. And, Reiss presided over Wilder’s dramatic 12th round knockdown of Fury, when the challenger barely beat his count at nine. Reiss let the fight continue, Fury survived and even got his boxing legs back under him for the final minute and the bout ended in a 12 round draw.

Also interestingly announced on Wednesday, were the three judges that will score the WBC Heavyweight Title showdown Saturday. Those are Dave Moretti of Las Vegas (who was a judge for Wilder-Ortiz II), Glen Feldman of Connecticut and Steve Weisfeld of New Jersey.

There had been speculation from Fury’s camp that they wanted a British judge for at least one of the spots, but obviously the challenger and promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank Boxing are satisfied with those choices of the list of possible judges.

In the controversial draw in December of 2018, there was a Canadian, a British and a California judge, who all three split the decision three ways.