Watching the fight Taylor out boxed Chavez for most of the fight and then Chavez knocks him down in the last round. Taylor is up by about 6 and referee Steele asks ' are you OK'? before calling off the fight when he gets no response thus denying Taylor a points victory. Was Steele too quick to call off the fight regardless of there only being 2 seconds left? Was Steele influenced by what happened in Tokyo a few weeks earlier when Octavio Meyran's career was unfairly ruined by King after he allowed Buster Douglas to continue after his knockdown against Tyson? Was Chavez lucky to stop Taylor so late in the fight?
Did a referee have to ask ' are you OK?' I haven't seen it for a lot of knockdowns. Im pretty sure there are loads of fights that could have been stopped earlier on the basis of no immediate response to this question following a knockdown.
That fight could have ended in tragedy, Taylor had already been permanently damaged by Chavez by that time. Taylor had to much heart. Had Taylor managed to win via points, it would not have mattered, his prime had been beaten out of him in that fight. Chavez won.
There is tons about it here. I think every angle and perception is mentioned somewhere in this lot concerning the fight and its consequences: http://www.boxingforum24.com/showthread.php?t=495659 http://www.boxingforum24.com/showthread.php?t=531811 http://www.boxingforum24.com/showthread.php?t=438978 http://www.boxingforum24.com/showthread.php?t=12129 http://www.boxingforum24.com/showthread.php?t=434213 http://www.boxingforum24.com/showthread.php?t=438977 http://www.boxingforum24.com/showthread.php?t=20899 http://www.boxingforum24.com/showthread.php?t=353574 http://www.boxingforum24.com/showthread.php?t=332305 http://www.boxingforum24.com/showthread.php?t=291704 http://www.boxingforum24.com/showthread.php?t=268244
This is a monthly thread here at ESB, and it's getting old and tiresome to say the least, bottom line Chavez beat him to a pulp, and knocked his ass out in the rematch too.. Taylor didn't respond to Steele when asked, also he swallowed a lot of his own blood, had bones in his face broken, and spent at least a week in the hospital after the fight, and needless to say was never the same.. And Chavez blasted him out in the rematch, let it go already..
I don't see any reason why a popular and rightfully contentious topic can't be discussed monthly (that's 12x/year; we're not talking about weekly, here) on a classic forum nonetheless, especially for newcomers and those who actually like to discuss this topic. If you don't like it, then just ignore the thread? You're talking about post-fight damage. We all know that Taylor wasn't ever the same, but that doesn't necessarily translate into him losing (e.g., Frazier-Ali I). Besides, there are other potential factors/issues at hand. We've already brought up the question of who checked Chavez's gloves. And someone has already asked whether or not a referee has to ask whether the fighter is OK, let alone a fighter being required to vocally answer in the affirmative. Of course he did, considering the first fight. But again, being blasted in the rematch doesn't have much to do with whether the stoppage in the first fight was justified. This issue, ihmo, is far from having a general consensus and for good reason too.
For the sake of everyone, New or otherwise. The question is not so much about should have Steele stopped the fight when he did..... The real thing everyone should have wished for, including Taylor, is that the fight would have ended earlier. The damage was hideous, one more shot.... Maybe dead. Chavez won that fight, and no matter what would have happened, Taylor lost.
This forum has been around for over a decade; all the obvious stuff has been done, and done, and don...