Was Kovalev/Pascal A Bad Stoppage

You have to look at this case by case basis. We have examples where stoppages are genuinely bad -most obvious ones being Calzaghe stoppages (all of them), Manfredo fight in particular. Then you have stoppages like Scott-Chissora, another blatant fail by the referee.

But in this case you have a man with his arms down, head unprotected and body already slumped and taking two clean shots to the head. Kovalev looking like an assassin looming over him, and timing every shot perfectly. Unlike windmill wilder, Kovalev takes his time with finishing shots and he is surgically precise - he lands 90% of his finishing punches flush. Ref sees Kovalev loading up, Pascal not covering up and not in a position to move away/doge, makes a split second decision, jumps in and saves a man's career and possibly the livelihood of his family.

Of course, Pascal is unhappy with the stoppage. He is a warrior, a man as tough as they come, and he is disappointed. But it is the Ref's job to save the fighter when his ambition and heart are clouding his judgement, Because in the heat of the fight, you do not feel pain. That's the funny thing, adrenaline is so high and you're in such a rush that when it's all over, you feel that you could have gone further. Its only later, in the changeroom, when adrenaline rush is over, the pain comes in tidal waves and the next morning, it hurts to read or focus your gaze on anything for a long time. Magomed Abdusolamov was tough as nails and he held on against a much sloppier opponent. Had that fight been stopped in round 8 like it should have been, we would have one fo the more talented fighters in the division still fighting. And a few upset nobs crying about premature stoppage.

 

Bottom line: referee can see what kind of condition the fighter is in better than any of us outside the ring. Could be he saw something bad or worrisome in Pascal's eyes:!:

 

I was at the fight and was dam glad that the ref stopped it when he did. There is a part of me though that was wondering if I was going to actually witness a Castillo Corrales type fight live. The way that fight was going it had a chance of being one of those type fights. That would have been a once in a lifetime experience. Literally something I'd tell my grand kids about "I was there when....".

There is a little bit of a selfish beast in all of use that wants to see as much destruction and brutality as possible. We'd be lying if we pretended that wasn't the case. So even though I was happy with the stoppage, to the people who are saying that the stoppage was too early...I understand...

p.s. as some bonus material, here is a pretty wicked vid of Max Kellerman explaining bothsides of the argument on the stoppage. Pretty solid stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkT-ldkW4Q0

Enjoy!

 

I think he new that pascal was fighting with a concussion from the fourth round onward and once he saw him get hurt again was having none of it.:good

 

Being an overwhelming majority does not make it right. I will go with the in-ring participants themselves over online commentators any day, and as the comments quoted from Pascal himself demonstrate, he was ready and willing to continue and he should have been allowed to. And he would have been allowed to when boxing had not been diluted by squeamish referees and the boxing establishment - and frankly, the fanbase that supports them.

When I started following boxing 35 years ago, while there unfortunately had already been a trend towards diluting the purity of the in-ring combat, it was still better than it is today. And squeamish referees like Pabon got run right the **** out of the arena by fans. They understood that they were being cheated out of the conclusive ending they had come to see. Thankfully, participants like Pascal still seem to understand what many boxing fans, sadly, have forgotten.

 

i think had the ref not stepped in kovalev would have landed some more clean bombs and pascal still might not have gone down forcing a stoppage, had he went down he would have gotten back up and knocked right back down.

personally i do think it was a bad stoppage but.....long story short there was too much time left in the round and pascal would have lost either way, i really don't think he would have recovered.

 

If the referee had not stopped that fight, Pascal would have had a damaged brain or even be dead........................he had no defense...............Kovalev was on his way to knocking Pascal out in the other corner when he slipped, he got up, then went to the other corner and cleanly started beating Pascal's skull. When Pascal staggered from one corner to the other he looked like a drunk......................he was badly hurt...............perhaps the ref could have allowed Kovalev to land a couple more punches, but look at the damage it would have done..................Pascal would have been knocked out cold anyway, then would he have been in a coma? Pascal was losing the fight, he had nothing left.............

 

You realise that Pascal has no reason whatsoever to admit he was
gone, don't you? Not that many fighters on the losing side admit a
stoppage was fair, as long as there is any possibility of arguing. That
does not mean they are right. It just means that to keep their
marketability and pride up, they will say they are good to go.

Hell, I bet Hatton would have argued his loss vs Pacquiao was an
early stoppage, if he thought he could convince anyone.

 

he was concussed. probably doesn't even recall if the fight was stopped LOL.

 

Great post my man! :thumbsup

Pascal may have wanted to continue, but fighters need saving from themselves and the blood hungry fickle fans. This was a perfect example of a perfect stoppage.

Had it continued the headline the next morning could have been a lot different, Kovalev was loading up on those shots like it was a heavy bag in front of him and as you have said previously, this is the hardest puncher in the division (by a long long way).

 

Strange how that MMA fighters don't get the same kind of stigma for tapping out but boxers are supposed to fight to the brink of death.


Besides, it goes beyond the immediate danger. Taking too many blows to the noggin can cause Parkinson's pugilistica, Pugilistica Dementia, ALS etc.

RIP Braydon Smith

 

You do realise that Kovalev has killed a man before in a boxing ring? I find it mind boggling that you wanted that fight to continue.

 

Zakman the fact you are at least 35 years old and have an obsession with glass jaws is worrying, you never got married right?

 

The shallow end of the gene pool does dry up somewhere, you'd say?

 

so far, 31 monkeys who think it was a bad stoppage.

knowing when to stop a fight is about the only thing Louis Pabon knows how to do in the ring. he may be even dumber than Jim Lampley.