I'll be less likely to complain about premature stoppages after this, not that it was the ref's fault, but sometimes you just forget how dangerous this sport can be. So so sad. R.I.P
Also something to take into consideration is the quite punishing match he had against Carlos Adames, who's a very big puncher, only 3 months ago. I went with Conwell by KO because of that, because Conwell is not that big of a puncher. I had a feeling that it was far too soon for him to be stepping in the ring again, but he proved to once again be tough as nails, too tough for his own good. He was a warrior, sadly that proved to be to his detriment this time.
This is something that doesn't get talked about enough - unscrupulous commissions allowing fighters to get into dangerous match-ups too closely on the heels of grueling wars and/or brutal KO losses.
Exactly. People have a tendency to forget, every match of a fighter's career takes a toll and wears them down physically, and matches like the one he had with Adames are deceptive. It wasn't even what I'd call grueling, but just slow, steady and methodical. The repeated flush clean rights that Adames pounded him with, most of which were one punch KO type shots, that he soaked up and took surprisingly well, often times do far more long term damage than a toe to toe bloodbath like Salido and Vargas types are a part of. At least most of their shots are in close, wild and they can't get full extension behind them, measure their opponent, sit down on the shot and connect with it full force. Case in point, that's the pattern which Gvozdyk-Stevenson and Matias-Dadashev followed. This content is protected
A per-quarter or per-annum round limit might be something worth thinking about for commissions globally. Simakov fought forty rounds (five fights) in 2011 before stepping in with Kovalev. That was, in hindsight, beyond the limits of a guy like him. A good, lunchpail fighter who actually won all forty of those rounds ...but he wasn't some elite slipping every punch and coming through unscathed. As you graduate from 4- to 6, 8, 10 and ultimately 12 rounders you should have your dates spread further apart in correlation. There's a reason championship level fighters don't step in the ring more than at most thrice a year (for a max potential 36 rounds). Like, yeah, at the bottommost tier, you can do a 4-rounder every month, because on average those opponents are garbage and either aren't touching you much or even if they do, presumably don't have the world class power to be piling up cumulative brain damage. As you step up, the competition sees a spike in their connect rates and heavy-handedness, and each hit starts to add up. Not to mention all the miles fighters add onto their odometer in sparring/gym wars.
I seriously regret watching these fights sometimes. He was such a nice dude too. Goddamn it why couldn't it be an AB?