watched it again and can't help but think it indeed was a bad stoppage. it is possible that refs will always have the fact that kovalev killed someone in the back of their minds and rightfully so. i also can't help but notice how bad kovalev looked, he was walking into shots and getting hit w big shots, if he fights like that against stevenson he will be in big trouble.
It was a justified stoppage if you ask me. Pascal was well behind on the scorecards and had hit Kovalev with his Sunday best only to see Sergey walk right through them. The fight was only going one way and that was with Pascal flat on his back. Kovalev was in total control of the contest (it wasn't much of a contest really) and had Pascal shook to his boots.
Let me ask Bad-Stoppers this: If not for Kovalev's slip distracting Pabon's attention from Pascal - would you have been okay with him waving it off then, with Pascal flopping against the ropes glassy-eyed? :think You might argue that stopping it as soon as Kovalev rushed Pascal and landed one hard right hand after time-in was a little awkward, but if your answer to my question above is "yes" then really it was a late, not early stoppage, anyway. So the confusion of the slip just kind of delayed things a few seconds, but it smoothed itself out in the end.
He only looked 'bad' because no one expects to see kovalev in a remotely competitive fight. In reality yes pascal landed a few big counters but it was hardly even competitive for the most part. if someone who didn't know either fighter (or their reputation) watched that fight then I can guarantee it would not be kovalev they were saying looked 'bad' Put it this way, if pascal made kovalev look bad then kovalev made pascal look like he'd never been in a ring.
99% chance kovalev would have won that fight had the fight been allowed to continue we all know that, what i'm saying is pascal had some good rounds and did better than anyone i have seen against the krusher..... w that being said, there is no way kovalev gets away w that kind of performance against stevenson and ward would outright school him and really make him look BAD!!!
Quite a few morons out there. Pascal stumbles all the way across the ring while the ref's back is turned. Unable to take one step without losing his equilibrium. So he stands against the ropes, so he can stay up right. The fight should have been stopped right there. The ref lets it continue, and Pascal eats two more hard shots against the ropes, before the ref intervenes. It was stopped too late, yet you have idiots saying the ref stopped it too early.
That would have at least been somewhat justifiable, but I would still say too soon because he was still on his feet, still conscious. Generally speaking, my view is that a fight should end conclusively before it stopped. I am also, in general, for tolling the full ten count, like they did in the old days. You should make 100 percent sure it is in fact over before it is waved off.