Yes it was. Use of a neutral referee was written into the Super Six contract. Here's one of several sources:
Mikkel Kessler's camp is unhappy with the officials for the Andre Ward bout - ESPN
Smoger is a US referee used for the Froch fight (there was no PED testing for that fight). We saw how nationalistic Smoger was during Hopkins-Murat recently.
Smoger was approved by the California Commission for Ward's last fight in Oakland, but for that fight the ref didn't matter because Chad was badly weight-drained anyway.
California referee Dan Snell helped Ward during his fight with Sakio Bika. Ward was allowed to foul - headbutt and hit off the break - but Snell was on Bika's back for it all night. At one point, Ward hit Bika off the break, and Snell admonished Bika for it!
Ward had California ref Raul Caiz Sr for his Super Six fight against Allan Green. Ward was permitted to hit while holding throughout the fight, but was too feather-fisted to stop Green.
Yes, Ward used Luis Pabon for his California fight against Abraham. But Puerto Rico is basically part of the USA isn't it? And Pabon had no objections to Ward using deliberate head butts in that fight.
No definite proof. But isn't a boxer refusing PED testing several times (for the Kessler, Abraham and Rodriguez fights) is a reason to SUSPECT he's on something? Why won't Ward take the test?
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