The Final Round--Round 16 Robert W. Lee Memoirs by Lisa Maydwell

Author:Lisa Maydwell [MAYDWELL, ROBERT W. LEE MEMOIRS LISA]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: DreamEmpire Publishing
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 62

With New Jersey’s addition of casinos, it became the ideal location for boxing matches. I was grateful to have Jersey Joe by my side helping to steer me in the right direction. I didn’t mind the moments when he would correct any mistakes that I made or any errors in judgment regarding boxing.

I noticed when I attended matches in New Jersey, there were no Black officials. No Black referees or judges. I expressed my concerns to Joe. He suggested we take some of the Black fighters who knew how the judging process worked and hire them for those positions. We hired Milo Savage (his government name was George Ware) of Salt Lake City, Utah. He became our first Black referee. Then we hired our first Black woman judge Frances Moore. She was sent to us by the Amateur Association. Larry Hazzard was our second Black referee who eventually went on to become a commissioner for the state of New Jersey. He succeeded me in the position.

There was a woman from California named Gwen Adair, she looked like a model. She wanted to be a referee in the worst way. The only matches they would allow her to referee in California were matches with smaller men. When she heard that I was the IBF’s president she came to one of our conventions and made a sincere pitch to join our team. After speaking to her at length, I contacted the commissioner from California to learn more about Ms. Adair. He said he didn’t think Adair had the upper body strength to control some of the fighters. After speaking with the people in California, I told Adair that I was going to give her a chance to prove herself. Adair was African American so that motivated me to help her out. I knew they wouldn’t allow her to progress in California, so I offered to send her overseas to Korea or Japan to referee. She admitted that she was afraid to fly. I remembered there was a match scheduled with a fighter from Tijuana named Jorge “Maromero” Paez, dubbed the “Clown Prince” in Mexico City, Mexico. After speaking with Paez’s manager they agreed to let Adair referee the fight. Adair wouldn’t have to fly, she could take the train or bus to Tijuana.

Adair said she had the best experience of her life in Tijuana. When she arrived a crowd of women with flowers was waiting to welcome her in anticipation of refereeing the fight. She said Nacho Huizar, the promoter, rolled out the red carpet for her. She said the fight went well and congratulated me for the job that I had done. Because Gwen Adair wouldn’t fly, there wasn’t much that I could do to help her.

Jersey Joe and I added officials of various ethnicities to our roster. The IBF had calls from all over the country of people requesting referee positions. It wasn’t long before we had our cadre of officials who were hired based on their skills. We recruited referees from many states including New York, Illinois, Florida, and California.

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