COLORADO SPRINGS, Ronde. (Juni 13, 2018) — Hall of Fame scheidsrechter Steve “Double S” Smoger, arguably the most recognizable and respected official in boxing history, holds the unique distinction of officiating in more states and countries than any of his peers.

Smoger ranks among the top six all-time, Niet Doen. 2 Amerikaans, in terms of most pro boxing matches officiated (1015), including an incredible 220 world time matches. He has been a referee in some of the greatest boxing matches ever – Vernon Forrest-Shane Mosley, Bernard Forrest-Felix Trinidad, Kelly Pavlik-Jermain Taylor, Roy Jones, Jr.-Hopkins, Micky Ward-Emanuel Burton, Andre Ward-Carl Froch and Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito II among the most notable.

Ook, Smoger has refereed matches featuring a Who’s Who of Boxing: Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Larry Holmes, Evander Holyfield. Roberto Duran, Hector Camacho Sr., James Toney, Mike McCallum, Vinny Paz, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Arturo Gatti, Felix Trinidad, Diego Corrales, Gennady Golovkin, Lucia Rijker, Christy Martin and so many others..

In addition to the International Boxing Hall of Fame, Smoger has also been inducted into four other Hall of Fames in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and Atlantic City.

As a youngster, Smoger got hooked on boxing, primarily because his father was an “awesome fan”, who religiously watched the popular Friday night boxing series, Gillette Cavalcade of Sports, with his son. Steve’s father told him that boxing was the last version of will and skill, one-on-one, to determine the better man that night.

Smoger said he was too small to play football, too short for basketball, so he became a cross-country runner in high school. A friend invited Smoger to the local YMCA in New Jersey to get checkout its boxing program. Only one day working with a pro boxer was enough for Steve to realize that being a boxer wasn’t for him. But he still loved boxing.

After he started refereeing amateur matches in southern New Jersey and Delaware, Smoger got the break of his life that dramatically changed his life. “Everything in life is timing,” Smoger explained. “The gentleman who gave George Foreman the small American that he proudly waved after winning a gold medal at the 1968 Olympische Spelen, Pat Duffy, opened a gym in southern Jersey. I told him that I wanted to train as a referee. I trained under the great Frank Cappuccino and then had to honor to train with Zach Clayton. He trained to music so referees moved without being herky-jerky. In 1978, I started officiating then-AAU boxing and worked out of the Atlantic City PAL gym, which remains a vibrant amateur boxing club. I’m still there 40 years later, serving on its Board of Directors, and I’m also its legal counsel.

“Vervolgens, the boxing gods shined on me. Casinos were coming to Atlantic City in 1978 and boxing was involved at all the casinos there. I was the district attorney in Atlantic City, dus na het werk ging ik naar de PAL sportschool om te trainen met de kinderen. Op een dag, de telefoon ging in de sportschool. Niemand anders was er, dus ik antwoordde. Het was de New Jersey Boxing commissaris, 'Jersey’ Joe Walcott, die vroeg me wie de leiding had. ik zei dat, op dat tijdstip, ik had de leiding. Hij zei dat er een pro laten zien dat 's nachts en ze waren kort van de inspecteurs. Hij zei dat ze iemand nodig om de hand te wikkelen kijken. Ik vertelde hem dat ik was goed thuis in de hand verpakking en dat was het, Ik was ingehuurd om die show te werken en ze gaf me de koninklijke behandeling.”

“Walcott Chief tweede was Chief Roy Johnson, die Walcott bracht in de staatscommissie. Hij huurde me in 1982 op proef scheidsrechter. Twee jaar later, Ik was een licentie scheidsrechter en, zoals men zegt, de rest is geschiedenis.”

Vandaag, Smoger is nog steeds een zeer actieve scheidsrechter, reizen rond de wereld voor te gaan, as well as co-chairman of the International Boxing Association (IBA) ambtenaren, and a valued USA Boxing Alumni Association advisor. Steve has made several appearances at Alumni Association gatherings across the country.

“I am honored to be the ‘unofficial’ representative of all officials who’ve made the transition from amateur to pro boxing,” Smoger commented. “I’m the only active referee (Alumni Association advisor) who made the transition from the amateur to the pro level.

“The accent has always been No. 1, on boxers, en nr. 2, coaches. USA Boxing is the best group I’ve ever been associated with and, for me personally, I’ve seen what amateur boxing does for kids in this country. They learn under difficult circumstances, through boxing, to successfully reach different levels in life. Ik geniet van het kijken naar de ontwikkeling van jongeren die gaan door de Verenigde Staten Boxing programma en zeer goed doen.

“Boxing maakt boxers. Mijn accent ligt op jongeren, om ze te zien groeien en te ontwikkelen, niet aan pro, om hun leven te verbeteren.”

INFORMATIE:

www.usaboxing.org

Tjilpen: @USABoxing

Instagram: @USABoxing

Facebook: /USABoxing