Jonnie Rice "stopped" Guido Vianello? Well, he did Michael Coffie! But did we see an injustice on January 14th, 2023 or not? What a debate... The right guy may or may not've won. One way to look at it is: They should always have Replay available for a ref and other officials to review. The other way to look at it is: Once rules are established and an event officially begins, can you or should you go ahead and change rules on the fly when it suits? Referee Benjy Esteves made his official declaration of "the cut was caused by a headbutt". Therefore, they'd have to go to the scorecards where Guido the Gladiator was clearly way ahead on points from outboxing his opponent with ease. You could call that fair. But as it turned out, the replay did show Rice landed his one lucky punch of the fight which caused a cut. So they'd have to hand him the victory as a Technical Knockout. And so they did. You could call that fair too.
The fight was a farce. The cut stoppage rules are subjective/corrupt: analysis of Vianello-Rice 1. Vianello was ahead 5-1 on two cards, in round 7 of a 10 round fight and hadn’t shown any sign of not being able to fight effectively 2. If Vianello had been a big A-side the fight would have very likely continued 3. Vianello would have got the decision had the commission followed their no replay rule (which also may well have happened had Vianello been a big A-side) rather than making things up as they went along 4. The referee ruled that the cut was caused by a headbutt after the 6th round but it was revised post-replay as a legal punch (rather than an illegal punch/strike, which would have also given Vianello the win and may well have happened if he had been a big A-side) Whether a cut is likely to cause significant permanent damage or not (very rare/unlikely with modern medical science and unknown, it’s never happened to my knowledge in MMA, which is far more liberal with cuts, Fury hasn’t had any problems with cuts in fights post-Wallin, plus the corner can assess and make a decision and the fighter can quit), a loss (usually misleadingly and punitively referred to as a "TKO" rather than a "TD") can potentially derail a fighter’s career (with legacy and big money on the line) and cut stoppages deny viewers a more dramatic contest as well as a conclusive ending: if a fighter is willing to continue and able to fight then he should be allowed to do so. By the logic of cut stoppages, brutal wars (or fights that are initially one-sided hammerings for several rounds, such as Wlad-Puritty or Wlad-Brewster 1) where dozens or hundreds of headshots are landed should not be allowed (and perhaps boxing should be banned outright, or at minimum boxers should be limited to just the jab, with 16oz gloves and headgear) due to the invisible but very real brain damage factor, with the referee justified in stopping fights of that nature early and even giving the win to the man behind on the scorecards if he had a strong last round. Cuts (non-concussive, chance events) often lead to inconclusive and potentially undeserved wins as fights are stopped before there is a decisive victor/result (though this is the point: the cut stoppage rules function to protect A-sides). And there’s a further corrupt element: cuts can potentially be headbutted and raked with no penalty to force a stoppage, especially by a big A-side. A fight being stopped on a cut can be akin to a fighter being “robbed” on the cards, which isn’t ideal for either fighter. Cut stoppages often create demand for an otherwise unnecessary rematch (along with accusations of ducking, despite the fighter who cut his opponent not necessarily fouling the cut or asking the referee for the fight to be stopped in his favour), which can hold up the division, preventing contenders from getting a title shot or result in titles being unfairly stripped/vacated, creating paper champions.
I feel sorry for Vianello, his career went downhill, before the fight with Ibeh I considered him a solid fighter and I expected him to be at least in the Top 20...
He now joins guys like Christian Hammer, Gbenga Olukun, Bert Cooper, Derrick Chisora, Kingpin Johnson, Michael Sprott and Jesse Ferguson as a special and exalted form of gatekeeper that actually really matters. Congrats!
Its obvious the referee was corrupt and trying to save the house fighter the L. By pretending it was caused by a headbutt and hoping no one would challenge him. If it was then why did he not call the foul when it happened? Thankfully, the commission stepped in and said it was caused by a punch, then showed him a video of it so he couldnt deny it anymore. This fight was one of the few times in boxing that genuine justice occured against the odds. Another prospect fails to make it through the gate.
I think Shaw might go there, but Vianello may go to high risk low reward island. He was actually winning and didn't go down from a punch that splattered his eyelid. But he has this bad loss on his record now and really only the Olympic thing to recommend him. With Shaw, if your prospect can keep up a certain workrate and isn't very chinny then he's guaranteed to win.
Yeah, tragic isn't it, one lucky punch, 1 of 2 the absolutely pathetic Rice actually landed clean. Vianello's career has been derailed because of a cut, in a one sided match he was dominating. He wasn't rocked, he wasn't stun, he wasn't even hurt. Just a cut. Now people are saying a prospect has been exposed, by a journeyman spoiler who spent 98% of the match fighting scared.
The fight between Jonny Rice and Vianello shouldn't have been stopped. There were only 3 rounds left and the corner could've at least tried to apply some ointment plus Vianello was dominating him That being said, Vianellos performace sucked. He would get clapped by any top 20 guy
Well Vianello was certainly handling it well, he made that heckler who shouted "gladiator my ass!" earlier eat his words. I don't see any way they could have let that fight go though, just too bad a cut that was too badly placed.
Anytime one fighter is domestic and the other foreign, you have to figure the foreign guy needs to dominate or get a stoppage. Dominating doesn't even always work.
Agree 100% Benji was wrong saying headbutt. But as it turned out it was a punch & the right. man won. But They need to fight again in all fairness Guido was way ahead