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| Paul Condon | |
|---|---|
| Name | Paul Condon |
| Birth date | 1943 |
| Birth place | London |
| Nationality | United Kingdom |
| Occupation | Boxing referee |
| Years active | 1960s–1990s |
| Known for | Refereeing 1988 Summer Olympics light middleweight final, officiating high-profile professional bouts |
Paul Condon
Paul Condon (born 1943) is a British boxing referee and former amateur boxer who became prominent in international boxing circles during the 1970s and 1980s. He is best known for officiating at major professional contests and international events including the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, and for his service within organisations such as the British Boxing Board of Control and the International Boxing Association (AIBA). His career intersected with notable figures and fixtures across European Boxing Championships, World title fights, and Commonwealth competitions.
Condon was born in London and raised in a working-class neighborhood with strong local sporting traditions associated with clubs in East End, London and West Ham. He attended state schools in Greater London and began boxing as a youth at a local club affiliated with the Amateur Boxing Association of England. His early trainers included figures connected to the post-war British boxing revival inspired by personalities from Mile End and Bethnal Green clubs; he later participated in regional tournaments that fed into the England Amateur Boxing system. Condon supplemented his boxing development with practical education in sports administration, engaging with institutions linked to the National Amateur Boxing Association and attending seminars hosted by regional bodies in Surrey and Kent.
As an amateur, Condon competed in middleweight and light-middleweight divisions in contests conducted under the rules of the Amateur Boxing Association (ABA) of England and entered national qualifiers that channeled fighters toward the Commonwealth Games and European Amateur Boxing Championships. He fought at club level against contemporaries who later represented Great Britain at the Olympic Games and at the Commonwealth Games; these opponents included athletes from clubs tied to Royal Air Force, British Army, and metropolitan police boxing teams. Transitioning from competitor to official in the late 1960s, Condon maintained an active role in the domestic circuit governed by the British Boxing Board of Control and in fixtures promoted at venues such as Wembley Arena, York Hall, and provincial halls in Birmingham and Liverpool.
Condon established a reputation as a firm, visible referee in professional and amateur rings across Europe and internationally. He officiated title fights under the sanction of bodies including the World Boxing Association, World Boxing Council, and European sanctioning authorities, working alongside promoters with links to Frank Warren, Don King, and European promoters. On the amateur and Olympic stage, Condon served at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, where his role placed him within the broader organisational framework involving the International Olympic Committee and the International Boxing Association (AIBA). His refereeing assignments put him in the ring with notable boxers who later achieved world titles or Olympic medals coming from nations such as United States, Cuba, Soviet Union, East Germany, Italy, France, Germany, Mexico, Philippines, and Japan. Condon also participated in judging and refereeing exchanges, curriculum development, and certification courses organised by the AIBA and European referees’ commissions, interacting with officials from federations including the Irish Athletic Boxing Association, German Boxing Federation, Italian Boxing Federation, and Polish Boxing Association.
He was involved in high-profile bouts that drew media coverage from outlets such as the BBC, ITV, and international sports press; these events often took place alongside heavyweight and middleweight title encounters featuring names that dominated professional rankings in the 1970s–1990s. Condon’s decisions and ring management were cited in periodicals covering boxing governance and debates over safety protocols advanced by organisations like the Medical Commission of the AIBA and national sports medicine bodies.
Condon remained based in London throughout much of his career and balanced refereeing with roles in local sports administration and community youth programmes linked to charity and civic initiatives. He engaged with amateur clubs that connected to municipal leisure services in boroughs such as Tower Hamlets and Hackney, contributing to coaching clinics and mentorship schemes. Outside boxing, his interests included attendance at cultural institutions such as the British Museum and participation in veteran officials’ associations that met at venues in Westminster and Surrey.
Condon’s legacy is preserved through his influence on referee education, adoption of safety practices in British and international rings, and mentorship of a generation of referees who later officiated at world and Olympic levels. He received recognitions from national and regional boxing bodies, including commendations from the British Boxing Board of Control and acknowledgements in programmes of events run by the Amateur Boxing Association. His service is noted in archival materials of major tournaments and in oral histories compiled by organisations documenting post-war and late 20th-century boxing in United Kingdom and abroad. Category:British boxing referees