Referee Ian John-Lewis has left the BBBofC to join BIBA
It was officially announced today that the highly respected and world class championship referee, Ian John-Lewis, has joined the British & Irish Boxing Authority (BIBA). This follows on from his surprise resignation from the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC).
A former amateur and professional boxer, he has used this vital experience when he became a referee. In 2000 he became Britain's first and still only Black A Star referee. In 2010 he became the youngest British referee to be the 'man in the middle' at the WBC world heavyweight championship and in 2018 was voted the worlds best boxing referee by his qualified peers.
Now in his 30th year as an official he has refereed 1044 championship bouts, mostly in Britain, and 77 championship contests overseas in 19 different countries including; Italy (15), Denmark (6), Germany (11), France (4), Japan (8), Spain (3), Poland (5), South Africa (2), Turkey (3), Belgium (1), Canada (3), Romania (1), Sweden (1), Russia (5), Zambia (1), Finland (2), USA (3), Saudi Arabia (2) and Gibraltar (2).
John-Lewis’ inaugural professional refereeing assignment was the contest between Darren Fifield and Kevin Jenkins at the famous York Hall in Bethnal Green on the 17th February 1993 and his most recent Championship refereeing assignment was on the 10th December 2021, when he was the third man in the ring for the World Boxing Council (WBC) World Youth Championship contest at the National Sports Centre in Crystal Palace, London between Aaron McKenna and Carlos Galego Montijo.
In addition, John-Lewis also judged 442 bouts, of which 305 were Championship contests and again whilst most were in the UK, he also travelled the world on judging assignments.
John-Lewis’ first judging assignment was the World Boxing Federation (WBFed) Pan European Championship fight between Jason Hart and Lester Jacobs that took place at Caesars Nightclub in Streatham, London on the 25th November 1998 and his most recent Championship judging assignment being the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO Championship contest between Undisputed Champion Josh Taylor and and WBO’s #1 mandatory challenger Jack Catterall that took place on the 26th February 2022 at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow.
On making the announcement, British & Irish Boxing Authority (BIBA) Vice President Gianluca Di Caro said; “It is truly an honour to welcome one of the very best referees in the world to the BIBA family.
“It seems I am not the only one that is overjoyed that Ian has joined us, on Wednesday, following a photo of Ian and myself being posted on social media, it seemed that not only virtually every BIBA members posted extremely positive comments welcoming Ian aboard, but also many of the boxers that Ian had refereed over the years also posted fantastic reviews and offered their congratulations.
“I, and am sure all BIBA officials, look forward to working with Ian, after all, and as it says on the jacket of his biography – ‘he is a fair man’, ‘he is Ian John-Lewis’, ‘he is the Referee’”
John-Lewis, whose biography I AM THE REFEREE was published in 2014, is a man of few words, then briefly added;
“I’m pleased that the British & Irish Boxing Authority has given me the opportunity to continue to do what I do best… Referee.”
His last involvement in professional boxing was the Josh Taylor vs Jack Catterall fight where he was downgraded as a judge from an A Star Class to an A Class Official for his controversial scorecard.
The British & Irish Boxing Authority (BIBA) are a professional boxing sanctioning and licensing authority, but are not widely recognised in the sports industry.
The BBBofC downgraded Lewis in March this year after he scored 111-114 for Josh Taylor to win over Jack Catterall in their February fight, a result which quickly became known as the biggest robbery of the year.The Board's statement after investigation read: “Following an internal review of the scoring of the Josh Taylor v Jack Catterall contest by all three appointed judges, the Stewards of the Board decided to call Mr Ian John-Lewis to appear before them to explain his returned card.
“Having considered Mr Ian John-Lewis’s explanation, the Stewards of the Board decided to downgrade Mr John-Lewis from an A Star Class to an A Class Official.
“Whilst the Board were satisfied that Mr. John-Lewis’s scorecard did not affect the overall result of the contest, the Stewards of the Board did have issue with his margin.
“As the regulatory body for the Sport in Great Britain the British Boxing Board of Control continue to improve and maintain the high quality and consistency in scoring by our licensed officials. As such, the Stewards of the Board have further decided that in addition to each A Star Class Official being evaluated after each bout, as per current procedure, they will now also be subject to a separate individual annual review.
“Finally, the British Boxing Board of Control have contacted the WBO, WBC, IBF and WBA supporting Jack Catterall to be made mandatory challenger for each or all Championship Sanctioning Bodies.”
From Gillingham, Kent, 59-year-old John-Lewis has judged from ringside for over 400 bouts and officiated as referee in over 1,000. As a fighter, he won 13 from 20 fights, with eight knockouts, and challenged for the Southern Area welterweight title in 1989.
