AFTER having officiated in two Commonwealth Games and the London Olympics, Lochore boxing referee Andrew Caulfield will on Friday fly out to Toronto to take part in his second Pan American Games.

The PanAm Games are the third biggest multi sport event in the world and the boxing tournament is set to see many of the main medal contenders at next year’s Rio Olympics battle it out.

And refereeing and judging will be the Lochore man who has become one of the World Boxing’s most respected officials.

This assignment follows a string of World Series Boxing dates and AIBA calls which has seen him in Miami, Mexico City, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Siberia since the start of the year.

Indeed, two weeks ago he was in Russia in the Siberian city of Kemerovo at a tournament which saw Andrew having to handle the last bout of the evening which saw a fighter seen by the Russians as a real prospect for the Rio Olympics face an eliminator.

“It was a very interesting visit for Kemerovo is a mining community in Siberia and after the tournament the officials were presented with a medal and a box which contained a sample of local coal and information about the town itself which was really good for me coming from a former mining village,” he said, “And the bout I had was a cracker with the Russian prospect not having it all his own way in front of a pack-out 4500 crowd and he only won on a split decision, but it helps him on to the next stage in his bid to make Rio.” Seven days later he was at an AIBA event in Lake Garda, Italy, but now his eyes are firmly on the Pan American Games in Canada.

“The standard of the Pan Am boxing tournament is totally amazing with fighters taking part from Cuba, the USA, Mexico and Argentina and you can can be sure that in the field there will be several potential Rio medal winners.

“The Pan American Games will see 6000 athletes competing so it is a massive event and the boxing tournament will last for ten days.” Andrew, who had an Olympic final in London, will be hoping to get another ‘final’ job in Toronto but is taking nothing for granted.

“It all depends on how you do in every bout your appointed to so you have to try to be at your best in every fight,” said the man who fought for Scotland in the lightheavyweight division in the 1990 Auckland Commonwealth Games.

“Landing a final is the goal but with 15 other officials there there will be a lot of competition.” With the ladies and gents tournaments there will be be plenty of fights to cover and Andrew expects to be either refereeing or judging two or three times a day.

The man who runs his own paint and decorating business in Benarty is no stranger to boxing in Canada. In 1993 he won a bronze medal in the lightheavyweight division in the Commonwealth Boxing Championships in Victoria and he feels it will be good to retrace his steps.

He is delighted to be involved in the AIBA boxing revolution which has seen refereeing standards rise and is now an instructor which sees him involved in creating the top referees of tomorrow.

“Fighters are properly looked after by the changes made by AIBA and one of the most interesting things referees have to take on board is the fact that the tournaments and WSB events have bouts of upwards of eight rounds while the Pan Am Games will see the traditional three round fights which makes contests feel more like sprints,” he said.

“But the important thing is that boxers are properly cared for and the bad days are well and truly gone.” Our pictures show Andrew during his recent Siberian assignment.