Smoger should be fired

Smoger's done very good work for a long time. This wasn't one of his better performances, though.

 

Best refs are Bayless and Weeks.

 

I think really Smoger is getting old near retiring & wants to feather his nest.
Cast your mind back to Margarito- Cotto II when HBO showed Smoger giving pre fight instructions t o each fighter individually. He greeted Cotto with a big embrace & hugs all round. When he got to Margarito he was all business hardly even shook his hand.
My grandson said " You can tell who he wants to win can't you"

 

absolutely. it is sickening

 

I see what you mean about stopping the guy that is throwing punches but Smoger stopped that fight so half heartedly, he stopped it like it was a clinch and he was scared to get hit and because when he did that Tapia put his gloves down and looked at him (dazed and hurt but not out on his feet) then Kirkland got a free shot and Tapia was out on his feet

 

I'd say that Smoger is simply one of the old school referees who will let a fight go as long as possible and give a fighter every chance to fight their way out. Sometimes he goes too far with that and gives too much benefit of the doubt, which I feel is the case in Kirkland-Tapia.

He could have been better when he jumped in to stop the bout, but really the whole thing was a cluster**** between the doctor, the corner, and the fight not being stopped sooner. Sadly, Tapia didn't do himself any favors either, because he would try to rally and come back every time I thought the fight was about to be stopped.

At least Smoger was staying close to the action. I've seen refs who were practically out in the third row when a fighter is in trouble.

Imagine if it was Tony Perez:

[yt]L_ZkaM7NR5E[/yt]

or Mercante Jr. (7:59)

[yt]FfhLQ2QALW8[/yt]

or this **** for brains scumbag from the REAL old school days. (5:45)

[yt]OBIs09wpbIw[/yt]

 

^This.

 

That's probably because Cotto is a good dude by all accounts and Margarito is a greasy, cheating piece of ****. :deal

 

I do think the fight should have been stopped sooner, but Smoger has always hugged the guy getting stopped. Kisses em sometimes too.

As for Kirkland, Smoger grabbed his right arm as he leapt in and hugged Tapia. He was putting himself between the 2 fighters. Kirkland got off that last shot, which was questionable, even in real time. I think it's on Kirkland more than Smoger.

 

The corner were to blame. You could see Tapia was spent before the final round. At one point he just wanted to close his eyes but his corner were like "open your eyes, come on suck it up!! look alive" just when the doctor came to have a look.

I believe Smoger is one of the best refs out there but he misjudged the stoppage by a few punches yeah.

Hope Tapia is ok; that kind of fight shortens (or halts) careers.

 

:happy

 

Though I did think Smoger's stoppage was a punch too late, the ref is not the only one with the power to stop the fight, the corner and or the doctor could have stopped it. In fact when Tapia's corner told him "show me a little pep" and Tapia just stared into space and wobbled as he came out in the 6th round, I believe his corner should have seen he had no fight left. You can blame Smoger for an untimely stoppage, but it should never have come to that, as Tapia's corner should have stopped it before then.