Ward – Abraham fight up in air over officials Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that the May 14 Super Six Super Middleweight semi-final between WBA Champion Andre Ward and Arthur Abraham is now up in the air due to Abraham’s camp being upset with the appointment of officials. “Contrary to what has been previously agreed on, the California commission all of a sudden insists on installing a Californian judge as well as a Californian referee,” said Abraham’s promoter Wilfried Sauerland. “That is totally unacceptable. This turnaround comes as a huge and unpleasant surprise. “Two months ago, everybody involved agreed that this tremendous fight would be served by neutral officials. We agreed to have one judge from California, one from Europe and one from neither Europe nor the U.S. The referee is supposed to be neither American nor European either. Unless this issue is sorted, King Arthur will not leave the country. We have put his flights on hold.” “King Arthur is more than happy to challenge Ward in his backyard, but we demand neutral officials as agreed on,” Sauerland said. “We have learned our lesson from the Kessler- Ward fight. Back then the California commission insisted on having a Californian referee. His performance was, to put it mildly, a joke. “This is not some beach bar brawl but the semifinal of the Super Six World Boxing Classic, a sensational tournament that has captured global attention. It’s a shame that the clash is jeopardized just because a local commission refuses to honor existing agreements and basic rules of fair play.” “Their accusation that California insisted on a California referee [for Ward-Abraham] is 100 percent inaccurate and, as far as I know, we have agreed to have one California official of the four officials, which is unusual to do. I don’t know how much more neutral the commission can be.”, said Dan Goossen, who promoted Ward. “I felt the California commission bent over backward to accommodate the parties,” Goossen said. “It is out of my hands. It’s going to be up to them.”.