Juan José Tonda

After starting out as a sound technician for a radio station Juan José Tonda became one of the best boxing referees and judges to come from Spain. While working for the station Radio Popular de Almería Tonda was responsible for all the live connections including that of local football match commentary. When he was 14 he attended his local boxing gym where he ended up being the announcer for the evening. In 1965 he made his début as a referee officiating on an amateur fight.

By the early 1970s Tonda had made it to being a national referee for fights at the national championships. He oversaw his first international fights in 1976 at the Junior European Championships in Italy. By 1979 Tonda had worked his way up to being an AIBA referee with him officiating at seven European Championships and three editions of the Mediterranean Games. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics he was the judge in 15 bouts and the referee in a further four fights.