Booth content over ref change for Haye fight
DAVID Haye’s trainer Adam Booth is confident that the change of referee for Saturday’s bitter heavyweight bout with Dereck Chisora is exactly what his fighter needs to prevail.
It was yesterday revealed that Puerto Rico’s Luis Pabon will be the third man in the ring after both Haye and Booth had previously rejected the 68-year-old Mickey Vann. Booth had questioned his physical conditioning and his “long history” with Chisora’s manager Frank Warren, but Pabon’s inclusion has since significantly placated him.
“I’m very happy with Luis Pabon,” said Booth. “He’s probably one of the top fight referees in the world – he takes no s***.
“That’s what we need. We need a referee that takes no s*** but that will also allow the fight to happen. Don’t stop the fight – just because guys have come up close, don’t stop them fighting.
“If they start doing things that aren’t in the rules of boxing, then pull them up about it, but I’m happy that Pabon won’t break the course of the fight. He’ll let them work up close, and that will give the fight the fans really, really need and want to see. And that will give us the fight that we’ve prepared for.”