British refs sort it out!

20 years on from Watson/EubankII, I would rather see fights stopped 5 punches too early, than one punch too late.

Watson had a brave corner and even worse, a brave ref...

I never, ever, ever criticize a ref, for IMO, stopping a fight too soon.

 

5 punches too early? Probably closer to 5 rounds too early in Brook's case.

 

You can't compare that fight. Watson was still all over the place after being decked from a huge shot. Where was the telling blow Brook landed?

 

This might be a good enough argument if the Polish lad was actually hurt.

Let's face it, you can moan about the refs all you want. They're not inept, they're corrupt. The problem is higher than them.

 

I get where you are coming from, but imho that is a poor example - there was no sign that the Pole was remotely hurt, and at the end of the day this is professional fighting. Stopping the fight at that point was crazy. Obviously if someone looks in trouble then the ref needs to be looking at it, but on this occasion it was a bit embarrassing when the announcer said at the end 'the referee considered that (the Pole) was in no position to continue' or however he phrased it, and you can see the Pole looking fresh as a daisy wondering how he missed the memo about 'don't throw a punch for 30 seconds and you are out of the fight'. It was embarrassing, and in no way should Saturday night be compared to the Watson fight. Anyone who thinks they're the same and that Saturday's decision forms a good blueprint for the future is maybe following the wrong sport.

 

kenny bayliss needs to knock loads of jnr's out.

problem solved.

 

Criticising refs is dangerous trade but Brook didn't learn as much as he could from this fight and Jackiewicz - although he was very poor last night - is too good to be disrespected by Howard J. Foster.

 

I think people are missing my (poorly made) point.

British referee's are not corrupt, there is no evidence of this. Indeed many of these referee's are top notch performers, and they have to show this to keep the A* status.

Yes there will be mistakes made by them, even the best, but as long as those mistakes are from stopping a fight too soon, rather than too late, I have absolutely no issue with it.

 

I just watched the fight and that stoppage was an utter disgrace. One of the worst I've seen. The lad had his hands up high protecting his head and none of the last 3 punches even landed cleanly.

Yes I would rather a fight be stopped early than too late, but frankly if we are going to get to the point of stopping fights when the guy has not even been staggered and is covering up then we may as well just ban the sport for being too dangerous.

Very few fighters get serious injuries in the ring on a single night and we should do all we can to lessen risks caused by cutting weight, fighting on too long etc but not just remove the chance for a fighter to come back when rocked or hurt.

Gatti-Ward 1 probably went on too long, so did Corrales-Castillo 1, but they were amazing fights and it was not negligent of the ref especially in the latter one to let them continue. If the fighter is on the ropes with his hands dropped stop it. If he stands up like Enzo against Haye and is wobbling badly, stop it. But don't stop it because he is not throwing back but is covering up.

Ali would have lost to Foreman in a British ring. If you are going to stop it, as others have said, at the very least step in, warn the fighter you will stop it if he does not throw back and then let it continue.

That stoppage was an utter embarrassment.

 

A good example of bad refereeing. Enzo had staggered and only been kept up by the ropes, Haye went into finish the job, but the ref should have stopped him and called a knockdown.

He basically allowed Enzo to get mashed while near defenceless.

 

totally agree some fights go on to long,gatti/mayweather springs to the forefront of my tiny brain,a complete and utter onesided twating:bbb

although brooks fight was quite onesided, at no point was the pole hurt or unable to continue,the ref should of told him to throw back or he would stp the fight. it happens in the am's all the time,if any boxer or both is not throwing a punch,the ref jumps in says '****ing hit each other' and hey presto,we have a fight.
it was a early stoppage,no question about that:bart,how many fights has one fighter been beaten in most rounds then pulled it out of the bag in the last few rounds:think

 

Completely agree with this!

 

I think it may stem a little bit from young fighters fighting journey men. These guys come over here and do nothing in the ring so the ref stops it. Usually they are ok stopages cause there litterally doing nothing. Not sure how to word it so if you dont understand im sorry lol

But it has gone over to the bigger fights and something has to be done. Im all for the safety of the fighters and it is better to stop it to early than to late
(Enzo mac v frenkel)

But its bad for the fans who want to see a fight. You could bring in a couple of universal rules to fix a few problems. Such as mckloskeys cut v khan. Instead of stopping it there and then how about 5 mins recovery time to work on cuts cause that cut was fine a few minutes later. Just like they do for low blows.

Anyway that a couple of my personal oppinions.

 

If that fight was headlining a PPV or you had traveled stateside for it, would you still have no issue with it?

 

Bring back standing 8 counts.