Lewis is incompetent but that shouldn't take away from the fact Rocky looked very good and if Hearn has any sense he'll keep Smith well away from fighting Fielding.
Fielding was clearly winning the fight. My honest opinion though is that I have split up my 2 kids up better. One 2 year old girl and her 2 year old brother. Shocking!
The way IJL panics when any fighter is hurt is a fascinating sight to see. Did something lead to that, did he let a fight go on far too long? I can't remember him being this bad before the Enzo Mac/Ovill Mc fight he made a hash of. Since then it seems he does it regularly.
I think between our referee's and judges (the 120-107 card in the Smith fight) it is seriously embarrassing and more importantly, SERIOUSLY harmful to boxing in this country. I want to see big name fighters come over here but why would fighters like Marquez come over to get stiffed. British stoppages have become a joke, the UK is considered by some to be as bad as Germany for judging. People say we have one of the best board of controls in the world. Why? How do they allow such bad judges and referees? As I say, very bad for the sport in this country in terms of getting big fights over here and casual fans. Real shame with British boxing booming.
No blame on Fielding at all, he was just doing his job but IJL is awful and proved it again last night.
it was a bit ropey.....but that's what u get when u march forward off balance with your head exposed.....was borderline ??? but u cant really blame rocky he reacted to the attack from a rough reckless brawler !
Wouldn't be surprised if this ruling got overturned. And frankly I think it should. The first shot that did the damage was with Vera on his knee being pulled down, and then when he got up unsteady he got clipped again by a brutal shot wich basically ended the fight. What happened after was a direct effect of that. I remember AA being DQ'd for taking a shot at Dirrell who was down by a slip, and the referee was too far away. Now Vera didn't have Dirrell's acting skills, and if he had IJL had probably just counted him out like nothing happened.
You can even see the concern on Fieldings face after he took the free left hook on vera and knocked him down, looked like he thought he was gonna be DQ'd
Remember him letting Shannon Briggs take a brutal beating against Vitali K. His positioning is awful.
I was impressed by Fielding and he looked to have the measure of Vera early on, but Vera was denied his fair chance by the utterly inept IJL. Vera was almost sat down, gloves clearly touching the canvas and after already being down the ref should have been shouting and running in to deliver a count or at least a break and a look in Vera's eyes. No, he simply watched Vera get up and (slightly stunned maybe?) wait for the break, leaving himself unprotected. No blame on Rocky. Bad reffing.