Kenny Bayless (born May 4, 1950) is an American

boxing referee The referee in boxing is the individual charged with enforcing the rules of that sport during a match. The role of the referee The referee has the following roles: *Gives instructions to both boxers before the fight *Determines when to start or ...

from

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. He is best known for having refereed many of the sport's most well-known fights. Bayless's catchphrase, when giving his instructions to the fighters before the opening bell, is "What I say you must obey." Kenny Bayless was raised in Berkeley, California. After graduating from college, he was recruited to teach school in Las Vegas. He was happy for the job opportunity but excited for the chance to relocate to a city with a thriving boxing scene. Around the same time, he became friends with Johnny Lehman, a glove man for several promoters and a boxing inspector for the Nevada Athletic Commission. Kenny assisted Johnny in his various tasks which allowed him access to more fights and the opportunity to compare his scorecards with the professionals. Jerry Roth, a Nevada boxing judge, was a mentor he regularly sought out. Jerry asked him one day, “Why don’t you try refereeing?” Kenny thought about it and decided, “Why not?” He sought the help of former Nevada referee, Richard Steele, and prepared himself to enter the ring as an amateur referee in 1982. In 1985 Kenny was hired by the Nevada Athletic Commission. He worked corners as an inspector and continued volunteering with the amateur program with the hopes of eventually becoming a professional referee. After 12 years of refereeing for Golden Gloves, and 6 years with the Commission, his opportunity finally came. In 1991 Kenny was appointed as a professional referee. He officiated his first world title fight in 1994. He has been third man in the ring for thousands of bouts and over 100 title fights. Kenny was inducted into the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame in 2014.

Career

Notable fights

*2004: Antonio Tarver vs. Roy Jones Jr. *2004: Bernard Hopkins vs. Oscar De La Hoya *2006: Manny Pacquiao vs. Érik Morales II *2006:

Shane Mosley Shane Mosley (born September 7, 1971), often known by his nickname "Sugar" Shane Mosley, is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2016. He held multiple triple champion, world championships in three weight classes, incl ...

vs.

Fernando Vargas Fernando Javier Vargas (born December 7, 1977) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2007. He was a two-time light middleweight world champion, having held the IBF title from 1998 to 2000, and the WBA title from 200 ...

*2007:

Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr., billed as ''The World Awaits'', was a super welterweight superfight that took place on May 5, 2007, at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada between six-division world champion Oscar De La Hoya and u ...

*2008: Juan Manuel Márquez vs. Manny Pacquiao II *2008:

Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito, billed as "The Battle", was a professional boxing match between World Boxing Association, WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto and former IBF and WBO welterweight champion Antonio Margarito. The WBA welterweig ...

*2009: Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton *2009:

Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto, billed as ''Firepower'', was a boxing match for the WBO welterweight championship. The bout was held on November 14, 2009, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Pacquiao won the fig ...

*2010: Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Shane Mosley *2011:

Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley, was a welterweight fight for the WBO welterweight championship. The bout was held on May 7, 2011, at MGM Grand, in Las Vegas. Pacquiao won by unanimous decision and retained his WBO welterweight championship. The ...

*2012: Amir Khan vs.

Danny García Danny Óscar Garcia (born March 20, 1988) is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the unified WBA (Super), WBC, ''Ring'' magazine and lineal light welterweight titles betwe ...

*2012:

Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Márquez IV Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Márquez IV, was a professional boxing match. The winner of this bout would win a commemorative belt by the WBO known as "Champion of the Decade." This was the fourth and final meeting between Pacquiao and Márquez. ...

*2013: Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Canelo Álvarez *2014:

Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley II Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley II, was a boxing welterweight championship fight for the World Boxing Organization, WBO welterweight championship. The bout was held on April 12, 2014, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada, Paradise, ...

*2014:

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Marcos Maidana II Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Marcos Maidana II, billed as ''Mayhem'', was a world championship boxing match held on September 13, 2014, in the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, United States. The fight was won by Mayweather via unanimous decision, ...

*2014: Andy Lee vs.

Matt Korobov Matvey Georgiyevich Korobov (russian: Матвей Георгиевич "Мэтт" Коробов; born 7 January 1983) is a Russian professional boxer. He challenged once for the WBO middleweight title in 2014, as well as the World Boxing Counc ...

*2015:

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao, billed as the ''Fight of the Century'' or the ''Battle for Greatness'', was a professional boxing superfight between undefeated five-division world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. and eight-division world ...

*2015: Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Andre Berto *2016:

Canelo Álvarez vs. Amir Khan Canelo Álvarez vs. Amir Khan (boxer), Amir Khan, was a professional boxing fight which took place on May 7, 2016, and was contested for the World Boxing Council, WBC, The Ring (magazine), ''The Ring'' magazine and lineal championship, lineal midd ...

*2016:

Manny Pacquiao vs. Jessie Vargas Manny Pacquiao vs. Jessie Vargas, billed as ''The Legend/The Champ'', was a boxing match for the WBO welterweight championship. The event took place on November 5, 2016 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao won the fight by u ...

*2017:

Canelo Álvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin Canelo Álvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin, billed as ''Supremacy'', was a professional boxing match contested for the unified WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, IBO, ''Ring'' magazine, and lineal middleweight championship. The bout was on September 16, 201 ...

*2018: Oleksandr Usyk vs. Mairis Briedis *2018:

Manny Pacquiao vs. Lucas Matthysse Manny Pacquiao vs. Lucas Matthysse, billed as ''Fight of Champions'', was a boxing match for the WBA (Regular) welterweight championship. The event took place on July 15, 2018 at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Pacquiao won the fight ...

*2019:

Manny Pacquiao vs. Keith Thurman Manny Pacquiao vs. Keith Thurman, was a boxing match for the World Boxing Association#Super titles, WBA (Super) welterweight championship. The event took place on July 20, 2019 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao won the ...

*2019:

Tyson Fury Tyson Luke Fury (born 12 August 1988) is an English professional boxer. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having held the World Boxing Council, WBC title since defeating Deontay Wilder in 2020, and ''The Ring (magazine), The Ring'' ...

vs.

Tom Schwarz Tom Schwarz (born 29 May 1994) is a German professional boxer who has held the IBF International heavyweight title since 2019, and previously held the WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight title from 2017 to 2019. Professional career Schwarz' first ...

*2019: Deontay Wilder vs. Luis Ortiz II *2020:

Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury II Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury II, was a heavyweight professional boxing rematch between undefeated and reigning WBC champion Deontay Wilder and undefeated former unified heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, for the WBC and vacant ''The Ring'' heavywe ...

*2021: Josh Taylor vs. José Ramírez

References

External links

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Fights
American boxing referees Living people 1950 births Sportspeople from Nevada {{US-boxing-bio-stub