Referee Earl Brown, The Unsung Hero of Broner Versus Rees
By Robert Brizel, Real Combat Media Correspondent
Atlantic City, NJ (February 17, 2013)–After Adrien Broner stopped Gavin Rees in the fifth round to retain his World Boxing Council World Lightweight title in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Saturday, March 16, 2013, all of the chatter was about how Adrien Broner was one class above the opposition, and whether or not Ricky Burns would be game enough to fight Broner if he beat Miguel Vazquez. Or whether or not Broner should go up to 140 pounds, and so on, and so on, and so on.
Forgotten completely from the Broner-Rees contest was the talented referee Earl Brown. In an era where refereeing, judging, and ring safety have become of the utmost importance, mistakes continue to be made at ringside and in rings around the world. This era of public awareness has put sports like boxing, hockey and football under greater scrutiny in the public eye in 2013 and beyond.
All the more reason why Earl Brown is an unsung hero, a man in the middle who appears almost invisible yet does the job right. Earl Brown refereed a world champion in his very first fight, Hasim Rahman, in a bout at the Taj Mahal Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in March 1996. Brown counted out Mike Mitchell, Rahman’s opponent, in the first round. In his third bout as a referee, Brown refereed Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s ten round decision win over Tony Pep at the Trump Taj Mahal.
Brown refereed his first official world title bout, the World Boxing Council Lightweight championship, Arturo Gatti’s knockout of Jesse James Leija at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City in January 2005. You might have seen Earl Brown on television, counting out challenger Dmitry Kirillov in the fifth round against IBF Super Flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington, in August 2008. Brown refereed Zab Judah’s split decision 12 victory over Lucas Martin Matthysse at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey in November 2010, when Judah came off the canvas to win.
Real Combat Media was there on January 19, 2013 when Brown refereed Emmanuel Lartei-Lartey’s ten round decision win over Michael Anderson in a Newark welterweight crossroads bout. On January 23, 2013, Earl Brown stopped to talk with Real Combat Media after refereeing Middleweight Lamar Russ’ win round decision win over Jose Medina at BB King Blues Club & Grill in New York City on a DiBella Entertainment card.
Silent as referee for the most part, but a man who speaks when he has something to say, Earl Brown remains one of boxing’s finest referees and a true gentleman for all seasons. While people were looking at Adrien Broner and Gavin Rees, this reporter was looking at Earl Brown keeping the bout clean and controlling the tempo of the action. Whenever Earl Brown is in the ring, the fighters are in good hands, and safety is a priority. Yet during a major television bout, despite being on the screen, Earl Brown disappeared to the background of the action, and could have been missed completely by the fans watching the WBC title bout. Earl Brown the unsung hero was always there.
How a referee can become invisible in a world title bout, I don’t see how. But I always see Earl Brown. What a fine gentleman and what a great guy. Of Earl’s 125 or so professional bouts refereed, all but three have been in new York and New Jersey. Earl has refereed one vacant IBF Super Featherweight bout in the state of Washington, sand traveled to Germany twice to referee IBF World Middleweight title bouts with Sebastian Sylvester and Arthur Abraham. Earl Brown, like Steve Smoger, deserves more world title refereeing opportunities. As a world class referee, Earl Brown deserves it, but might not be as well known outside the North Eastern United States as some boxing fans might think.
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