Max Kellerman thought the fight was stopped 'prematurely'. Do you agree?

Here is the thing. I thought the ref would have been more justified stopping it after the second knockdown when Wlad could barely grab the ropes. But after he got up from that he made Joshua miss almost every shot coming in. When the fight was actually stopped, there was one glancing blow during a barrage of misses. Wlad was obviously coherent enough and healthy enough to slip and roll away from all those shots so I think it was a particularly bad moment for the ref to step in. It's POSSIBLE that AJ could have tired himself out again and this time been put away for good. Possible not likely. But we will never know now unfortunately and that's kind of sad.

Now having said that, boxers know you have to throw something back in those situations and Wlad was in full defense so he really can't argue all that much. And he didn't.

 

If you look closely at the initial KD in the 11th, Wladimir was on unsteady legs as he walked forward to the referee... and he also had to use the ropes for assistance as he was getting up. There is cam footage of different vantage points around the 'net.

Had the referee waved the fight off after the second KD in the Round, then it definitely would have been justifiable. Wladimir was being hit cleanly at that point and sent back down, all the while being incapable of throwing back or adequately defending himself.

Kellerman must be feeling contempt towards Wladimir's health. It's either that... or he was enjoying the fight so much that he didn't want it to end.

I found no fault with the stoppage, personally. We saw AJ gassing several rounds earlier prior to that... but we also saw him send Wlad to the floor three times in all after imposing himself. One more well placed bomb could have eventually landed (on a Wlad in a hapless state against the ropes), so I don't blame the ref for not wanting to chance it at that point. He had seen enough.

 

Savage

 

Thought the stoppage was early considering that Joshua was not landing anything and was probably near gassing out. Wlad was defending himself well.

Its true that Wladimir could have gotten knocked out but so could have Joshua who was probably near blowing his load.

Not a terrible stoppage though. Especially considering Wladimirs age it would have been a shame if he ended up in a coma or something at this stage of his career.

 

Where does your mother live -- ******* !!!

 

Joshua was punching him self out. Klichko was blocking punches and moving his head. The Ref saved Joshua's ass.

 

Kellerman was also pushing for the rematch straight off the bat, after seeing an older fighter get pounded. Walking off into he sunset with all his faculties didn't seem to be in the equation at all....

Saying that, there is an argument it was stopped a touch too early as wald wasn't hit at all in that last flurry but I am personally glad it was stopped, it's unlikely he would have done much after that punishment

 

It was a good stoppage. Wlad had already been down twice and was getting rocked. He looked clear headed, was defending himself better, and was still on his feet, but I'd only give him a 10 percent chance to weather that storm and come back. Sometimes people do. I mean, we saw Joshua come back that very fight. It doesn't happen often but it happens. Sometimes a guy will even go in for the knockout and get knocked out himself by a lucky punch. Personally, I'm a big fan of the ten count and I don't think it gets used enough. I don't like seeing fights stopped while fighters are on their feet. But as stoppages go this was okay.

 

The fight was only going to go one way at that point so better to stop it at the first hint of the end-stage than to wait until Joshua landed something really nasty. Was actually about as perfectly judged a stoppage as any I've seen. Bravo to that ref.

 

People need to remember that the viewer at home has the advantage of instant and slow motion replay. You can't expect the referee to know that all those punches were being blocked or missing. It was a proper stoppage considering the two knockdowns previous and Wlad was not throwing anything back.

 

It was an early stoppage and I expect every ref to be great at being able to decipher which punches land and which don't. Premature stoppage.

 

it is was stopped on the final flurry alone, yes it would be as i don't think any of them landed but after the 2 knockdowns and the amount shots thatt had landed flush...being pinned on the ropes against a suddenly revitalised AJ when you're out on your feet is not a good thing

 

I have seen worse but i can see this in a way. This is HW though & two huge men throwing bombs.. I think WKs 41 year old legs & lungs where suffering by the time of the stoppage though. Better safe than sorry..

 

Thats a good point. But in real time the when I was watching the fight the first time I was surprised it was stopped.