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

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 landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. 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" which was given to him by son who suggested that he'd use a catchphrase because of long time friend

Mills Lane Mills Bee Lane III (November 12, 1937 – December 6, 2022) was an American referee (boxing), boxing referee and professional boxer, a two-term Washoe County, Nevada district court judge, and television personality. Lane was best known for ha ...

saying "Let's get it on!" 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 State 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. On Sunday April 23rd 2023, Kenny and his identical twin brother Kermit Bayless (Boxing Judge) were both inducted into the National Boxing Hall of Fame.

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 2 ...

*2007:

Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr., billed as ''The World Awaits'', was a professional boxing match contested on May 5, 2007, for the WBC super welterweight championship.. At the time, the bout was the most lucrative boxing match ever, wit ...

*2008:

Juan Manuel Márquez vs. Manny Pacquiao II Juan Manuel Márquez vs. Manny Pacquiao II, billed as ''Unfinished Business'', was a professional boxing match contested on March 15, 2008, for the WBC Super featherweight championship. Background The bout took place at the Mandalay Bay, Las Veg ...

*2008: Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito *2009:

Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton, billed as ''The Battle of East and West'', was a professional boxing match for the International Boxing Organization, IBO and ''The Ring (magazine), The Ring'' light welterweight championship between Manny Pacqui ...

*2009: Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto *2010: Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Shane Mosley *2011: Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley *2012: Amir Khan vs. Danny García *2012: Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Márquez IV *2013: Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Canelo Álvarez *2014:

Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley II Timothy Bradley vs. Manny Pacquiao II, was a professional boxing match contested on April 12, 2014, for the WBO welterweight championship. Background The bout was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada. Bradley entered as a 2 to ...

*2014: Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Marcos Maidana II *2014:

Andy Lee Andy Lee may refer to: __NOTOC__ Sportspeople * Andy Lee (American football) (born 1982), American football punter * Andy Lee (boxer) (born 1984), Irish boxer * Andy Lee (footballer, born 1982), English footballer for Bradford City * Andy Lee (footb ...

vs.

Matt Korobov Matvey Georgiyevich Korobov (; born 7 January 1983) is a Russian-American professional boxer. He challenged once for the WBO middleweight title in 2014, as well as the WBC interim middleweight title in 2018 and the WBA interim middleweight ti ...

*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 match between undefeated five-division world champion and WBA (Unified), WBC, and ''The Ring'' welterwe ...

*2015:

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Andre Berto Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Andre Berto, billed as ''High Stakes'', was a professional boxing match contested on September 12, 2015, for the WBC, WBA and '' The Ring'' welterweight championship. Background On August 4, 2015, it was announced that ...

*2016:

Canelo Álvarez vs. Amir Khan Canelo Álvarez vs. Amir Khan was a professional boxing match contested on May 7, 2016, for the WBC, ''The Ring'' magazine and lineal championship. It was the first major sporting event to be held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Backgroun ...

*2016:

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

*2017: Canelo Álvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin *2018: Oleksandr Usyk vs. Mairis Briedis *2018: Manny Pacquiao vs. Lucas Matthysse *2019: Manny Pacquiao vs. Keith Thurman *2019:

Tyson Fury Tyson Luke Fury (born 12 August 1988) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2008 to 2024. He held multiple world heavyweight championships, including unified titles from 2015 to 2016, the '' Ring'' magazine title twice bet ...

vs.

Tom Schwarz Tom Schwarz (born 29 May 1994) is a German professional boxer. Professional career Early career Schwarz' first professional fight was on 29 August 2013 when he won a 20 second KO victory over 34 year old Mario Schmidt. After amassing a record of ...

*2019:

Deontay Wilder vs. Luis Ortiz II Deontay Wilder vs. Luis Ortiz II was a professional boxing match contested on November 23, 2019, for the WBC heavyweight championship. Background After his first round knockout of Dominic Breazeale in May 2019, Deontay Wilder was linked with b ...

*2020:

Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury II Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury II, billed as ''Unfinished Business'', was a heavyweight professional boxing rematch between undefeated and reigning WBC champion Deontay Wilder and undefeated former unified heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, for the ...

*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