Just watched this again. Is it just me, or would that fight have been stopped in round 5, and a TKO awarded to Golota, if that fight had happened today?
Probably. Hell man, Bowe's corner should've stopped the bout & not waited for the ref. They should not have let their guy get hit so much. It's just like the old trainers say---the punches a guy can't shake are the one's where they are absorbing when they are fighting on heart alone. Those are the fights that shorten careers & that corner's job is to make sure their fighter is not in that position. Bowe had already absorbed like that in the first fight & that corner should've been quick to stop things & not unwilling or reluctant to stop it.
It probably should have been stopped. If not in round 5 then by round 7 or 8. Bowe had no business taking that sort of abuse. Also, it's not certain it would have been stopped, since when to stop a fight is always a tricky subject, especially if the fighter is getting consistent punishment but not being blown away by a barrage on the ropes or anything. See Pacquiao-Barrera I. It's been awhile since I saw it but Barrera got beat pretty bad in almost every round as I recall it, but things were only stopped when Barrera's corner jumped in at the end of the 11th to show some mercy.
Bowe also had a history of coming back when hurt ala Arturo Gatti...and fighters like those are ALWAYS given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to taking abuse. It SHOULD have been stopped but I doubt anyone other than Bowe or his cornermen would've stopped it. Not the ref nor the ringside doc.
man i thought the bout should have been stopped n round 2.....bowe takes nearly 20 unanswered punches after he gets knocked down and only golota headbutting him and ref stopping the action prolly saved bowe from a knockout
That's why I watched it. It had been awhile since I had seen either. Bowe was taking such a beating in the 5th, that I was sure if it had taken place today, it would have been over then and there.