How come Berbick did not get Disqualified for punching Tate in the back of the head. I think some referees or officials would have disqualified Berbick for doing what he did. I have a tape of this fight & have seen it many times... Berbick appears to have delivered the real knock out blow to his opponent while Tate was against the ropes... a few seconds later Tate runs into the middle of the ring (away from Berbick) & is punched in the neck and in the back on the head. Tate then falls to the canvas & is out of it, unable to continue. It was a close fight & i think that Berbick could have been DQ'd. Thoughts... opinions?
There's nothing wrong with hitting an opponent if he turns his back on you. In fact, if it hadn't been for Tate getting knocked out, the ref would have been justified in at least giving a public warning to Tate for turning his back on his opponent, which is contrary to the rules. Tate broke the rules; Berbick was acting within them (if not within the rules of sportmanship).
So its completely legal to punch someone in the back of the head if they are running away from you? I guess Tate's "run" was similar to Tommy Hearns' drunken dance away from Hagler in the 3rd round of their fight... which was quickly punctuated by a Hagler hook.
good posts and good reply . At least until i c this , it made me slightly more curious about these 2 and this fight .
It was a judgement call. I believe Tate was in the act of falling down when the final punch to the back of his head landed. As Berbick runs to the neutral corner, you can see the ref gesture - like don't hit the back of his head - and then he picks up the count. The second-to-the-last punch was thrown from behind, too, but it was a left hook that caught Tate on the side of the head. The right to the back of his head landed as he was falling. If the Tate camp wanted to make a big deal out of it, they probably could have. Technically, you can't hit someone in the back of the head ... and if they can't continue as a result, you can be disqualified. That happened to Terry Norris against Santana in their first fight. However, I think the last thing Tate's team wanted at that point was a rematch with Berbick. Tate didn't have the best chin. James Chapman dropped him flat on his face and out cold before the Olympics. Stevenson starched him with one shot. Weaver dropped him flat on his face, and then Berbick did it yet again. Frankly, I still can't believe Tate went 15 rounds with Coetzee. I think if they'd fought 10 times, Coetzee would've won the other nine. I think Tate got as far as he was ever going to get.
