CEBU CITY, Philippines—Veteran American boxing referee Mark Nelson will be the third man in the ring in the world title clash between Regie “Filipino Phenom” Suganob and the reigning International Boxing Federation (IBF) world light flyweight champion Sivenathi Nontshinga on July 2, 2023 (July 3, Manila Time).
This was revealed by Edito Villamor, who is with Suganob’s team from the PMI Bohol Boxing Stable in East London, South Africa.
Suganob’s team received the official letter from the IBF of its appointed boxing officials for the world title bout.
Nelson is best known for officiating the 2017 bout between Manny Pacquiao and Jeff Horn in Australia, where the latter won by unanimous decision in Brisbane City.
Also, Nelson officiated marquee bouts from Terence Crawford, Ruslan Providnikov, and Chinese boxing superstar Zou Shiming.
Judges
Meanwhile, the world title bout between Suganob and Nontshinga will be supervised by Daryl J. Peoples, the IBF president.
Surprisingly, one of the three judges scoring at ringside is a Filipino in Gil Co. He will be joined by South African Deon Dwarte and American Lisa Giampa, that will score the bout for 12 rounds.
The world title bout was supposedly scheduled last June 16 but was moved to July 2 due to promotional constraints from the Rumble Africa Promotions.
Still, one of the much-awaited light flyweight clashes of the year will be happening in the next few days.
Suganob earned his spot as a mandatory challenger for Nontshinga’s IBF world title after defeating Omega Boxing Gym’s Mark Vicelles via an eighth-round stoppage last February in Bohol.
He has an undefeated record of 13 wins with four knockouts, while Nontshinga, who will make his first title defense has an 11-0 (win-loss) record with nine knockouts.
/bmjo
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Suganob vs. Nontshinga set June 16