Max Kellerman thought the fight was stopped 'prematurely'. Do you agree?

The stoppage was very justified, AJ was going to pound him against the ropes. HBO thought it was early, what did Showtime say about it?

 

That's how I see it. People can get damaged awfully quick in the corner, and it's not like the ref had the benefit of slow-mo to see that the final volley pretty much missed. All he sees is a massive puncher teeing off and Wlad, who was already significantly hurt, not throwing back. Better safe than sorry.

 

The stoppage was perfect. When Vlad got dropped in the 5th he came back to jab the hell out of AJ and clinch him when required.. He still had his bearings.

But in the 11th he was hurt bad and he was gone.. There was plenty of time left in the rounds and the ref kept giving him extra time after the knockdowns, He wasn't throwing anything back, he couldn't even clinch or cover up properly and he was getting blasted to the body on the ropes.. Eventually he would have got caught with a bug shot and there was no way he would have made it out that round so the stoppage was good.

 

I thought the referee might have waved if off when Klitschko rose from the second knockdown, he was wobbly.
So, no, the stoppage wasn't early.

Klitschko was on the ropes, in the corner, and this AJ fellow was looking to hit him awful hard again, it was late into a damaging fight, things were getting nasty.
Klitschko didn't look strong at that point. His immediate future looked lousy.

 

The only thing in kellermans defence was when AJ was throwin the combo at the end he was jus hittin arms and gloves, nothing clean landed from the second knockdown till the ref jumped in on the ropes

But sayin that wlad was out on his feet and the ref saved him from taking further punishment...... which is kind of his job so you can't really argue .... he was done ... he only has himself to blame for not goin for the kill in the sixth

 

Wlad gave the impression that he was in bad shape even though Joshua was kind've flailing,
he had already been down twice in the round and by his eyes he was fatigued.
No problem with the stoppage.

 

Kidding me? Hell no.

It was justified. I usually detest early stoppages, but this one was completely 100% justified. Dropped twice and he wasn't even throwing back.

The ref did an incredible job that night, despite his lack of experience.

 

This is exactly the thoughts I was thinking.

 

I completely agree, were there no KDs prior to the stoppage, then it was definitely premature. After the 2 monstrous uppercuts followed by the assaults in both KD, Wlad was in terrible shape.
The referee already gave Wlad all the benefits of the doubt by allowing it to continue after the second KD. Also he gave him extra seconds on both KD after Wlad got up on unsteady legs by slowly waiving him to move forward and wipe his gloves. It's close to getting stop there.
I thought the referee handling of the whole fight was excellent including the stoppage.

 

I think the fight was stopped too soon. Joshua tried to finish Vlad against the ropes. All of his punches were either blocked or missed. You have to give Vlad the benifit of the doubt. He had the opportunity to end the fight as well.
The Ref sucked.

 

Why don't you show some respect and get rid of that avatar
FYI, Joshua was more on his feet then Wlad
Typical bias

 

what can i say.. i also thought it was too quick a stoppage. no need for a rematch, though. wlad is moving down the hill, and joshua is moving up the hill (to his peak).

 

Would you like a hug?

 

I was surprised it was stopped when it was. I have no problem with it, and it can certainly be justified. I was just surprised at the time.