Fighters SHOULD HAVE TO IMMEDIATELY put their mouthpiece back in when it falls out

I don't like the idea of a fighter being allowed to continue fighting on when their mouth peice gets punched out. Degale lost a tooth last night and that could have easily been avoided if the ref halted the fight and put his mouthpiece back in once he saw that it wasn't in his mouth..... I'm not even going to get into the specifics on why fighting with a mouthpiece is important because last nights fight is a clear example.

Discuss

 

When Degale was fighting without the mouthpiece is when I think Badou knocked his teeth out!

 

Yes I agree. The trouble is that with an ill fitting mouthpiece, its easy to lose it when you exhale. Some see this as merely spitting it out in an attempt to buy some extra rest time, but The rules state that when a fighter loses his mouthpiece when in an exchange, the mouthguard is to be replaced when the exchange has finished. In this case i don't think it was spit out on purpose at all.

I had a fighter that lost his mouthpiece and the ref let it go on for a long time- when he finally stopped the fight to have the mouthpiece put back in I could not get the piece in due to a front set of teeth that looked like a jigsaw piece hanging from his gums......

 

No and NO.

If you get caught flush and your mouth piece comes out, you don't stop the action and put the mouth piece back in. You let the action continue encase he is hurt , this gives the other guy the opportunity put the guy down or knock him out.

There are also all sorts of crap in the ring. The mouth piece should be cleaned.

What needs to happen is a point deduction if it is a blatant spit out.

 

I could see both sides of the issue...!!!

Yes boxer safety is paramount, but is it fair for a boxer to have to stop while his opponent gets his mouthpiece put back in...???

Also, some boxers use the losing of the mouthpiece as a way to get a quick rest, stop the momentum of their opponent, etc.

I had a boxer, Keith McKnight, fighting Danny Wofford in Atlanta, Georgia many years ago. During the 3rd round, McKnight had backed Wofford into the corner. Wofford's mouthpiece came out moments before the referee halted the fight in favor of a McKnight TKO...!!! But with the mouthpiece coming out, the referee instead allowed Wofford's corner to clean off the 2nd mouthpiece and thus giving Wofford an opportunity to continue fighting...!!!

 

I like that you put the fighter safety on top. But if you put that as a rule and halted the fight in the thick of the action, it seems to be something that can be abused by hurt fighter to buy time. I think you refer to last night fight, in my opinion Arthur mercante handle it appropriately.

 

Have to disagree only because some fighters do it intentionally. But fighters safety is important which should be understood by the fighters to make sure their pieces stay in their mouths. For instance last night. There was a delay from the time DeGale was caught with a punch from the time the mouthpiece came out of his mouth. I think the ref did a good job in not stopping the action. Regardless just playing a little devil advocate here.

 

I enjoy watching a sport where two men are trying to bash each others brains, break each others jaws, and crush each others rib cage.

In think the ref handled it perfect.

 

I just thought it was a refreshing change to see some true inside boxing,I mean from that mouth piece flying out Degale should have certainly tried to tie Jack up if not just to get the fight halted for a minute but whatever I thought those two really brought it last night and showed up Wards ten rounds of wrestling for what it was?

 

DeGale should have had a point deducted, he was clearly spitting it out on purpose to get a breather.

 

Degale had that tooth knocked out at least once before, its easy to knockout a tooth that's been knocked out before

 

It could have been avoided if Degale displayed better defense as well. It's a double edge sword! Say a fighter gets hit hard and stunned, knowing the ref will stop the action once the mouth guard comes out he could easily spit it out, thus gaining valuable time to recover. The rule is fine the way it is. If the mouth guard comes out, the ref waits for a lull in action and puts the guard back in.

 

Agreed! Similar to my post!

 

The process for the referee to follow is clear. When the mouth guard comes out the ref should immediately pick it up and wait for the next lull in the action call time send the other boxer to a neutral corner walk the boxer back to his corner, hand it to the cornerman who should rinse it and then stick it back in his mouth call time on and box. Although it never happens if he doesn't follow this process he can technically leave himself open to a damages claim. Yesterday I saw a cornerman fail to rinse the mouth guard and a ref who allowed the fight to go on after a lull in the action. In the old days before antibiotics fighters could actually die from septicemia which came from tooth damage. Two notable cases were Filipino Pancho Villa and Australian Les Darcy.

 

No. From what was posted here I assumed that was the case, but that isn't what it looked like at all. The mouth piece got knocked out from a punch initially, which happens sometimes, and the referee for whatever ****ing reason did not have it reinserted while they were breaks in the action. Because of this DeGale's tooth got knocked out in the fight. One (or more) of his front teeth. This causes the mouthpiece, which is formfitted, to go in incorrectly. Now you have a mouthpiece that is never going to set in properly. So what happens? It falls out.

Also, with how long it took the ref to put it back in when it was punched out the first time it is unlikely that DeGale would think the referee would be quicker to put it in should it happen again. I think this kills the theory that DeGale was doing it intentionally to get a breather. He'd be more likely to clinch or hit Jack low to force the ref to warn him if he wanted a break from the action.