Watch the whole fight mate. I'm assuming you are fairly knew to boxing? Making a judgement call in the split second is everything. Steele saw the beating up close he was taking. Like I said a earlier, a complex ending.
A detail I've never picked up on before is that while Steele is counting you can see Chavez in the background looking on. Chavez seems to turn away and raise his arm before Steele waves the fight off. You can interpret that in any number of ways, but to me it seems to suggest that Chavez thought the fight was done prior to Steele calling it off officially. Whether that was by assessing Taylor's condition, watching Steele's body language, or anything more sinister is again open to debate. It's one of those stoppages that can be justified. I don't think Steele deserved the criticism he got for stopping it, as he was well within his rights to do so. We all know how much damage Taylor had accumulated, the sequence leading to the knockdown was brutal, and Taylor wasn't responsive. Take away the cards and the timer, and it's a straightforward stoppage. However, Taylor was very unfortunate. Steele could have taken a few more seconds to evaluate, and Taylor had got upright with plenty of time to spare. Without the stoppage though, it's a moral victory for Chavez and he's a big favourite in the inevitable rematch.
How about some manners or is that too much to ask? I said before that I searched for this fight on the forum and couldn't find it and apologised if it had already been discussed. (See? THAT'S manners!) I don't see how the rest of the fight is relevant. The fact is, regardless of what happened before, that there was not sufficient time for another punch to be thrown.
I know but that doesn't answer either of the points I made about: - not giving Taylor the chance to answer his question - when you have a flashing red light right in front of you telling there is less than 10 seconds left and it's already been flashing for a few seconds, then you don't have to keep time, it's being done for you.
I'm not sure it is. I agree that the scorecard shouldn't have any bearing on a referee's decision. But if this had happened at the start of the round, I would still be questioning why Steele stopped the fight immediately after asking Taylor if he was OK and not giving him the chance to respond.
the time is irrelevant. Seriously if it was round 10 would it be a just stoppage? If so it is a just stoppage. Steele is not obligated to watch the clock but to in force the rules of stoppage for safety. So just for a test if it was round 10 should he have stopped it? If so then it is also correct in round 12....if you say no then consistency would also make you feel this was unjust. to me if it warrants a stoppage time left is irrelevant. Either position is fine IMO but it needs the consistency that rules are applied the same throughout a fight regardless of time remaining.
No, I'm not new to boxing and I don't think what had happened previously in the fight is relevant to: - the fight being stopped when there was not time for another punch to be thrown - the referee not noticing the flashing light right in front of him, telling him there were seconds left - the referee asking the fighter if he was OK and then stopping the fight as soon as the words have passed his lips.
I think that when it is two seconds from the end, there is a big difference because it is impossible for either fighter to throw another punch and Steele also had a big flashing light in front of him telling him there was seconds left. But even if that is put aside and the exact same thing happened much earlier in the fight, I would still have an issue with the referee asking a boxer if he was OK and then calling off the fight immediately afterwards. So, yes I would still feel that this was unjust. It only takes a few seconds for the fighter to reply (oh, the irony) and then, by all means, call the fight off after giving the guy time to respond if you're not convinced by the answer. If the referee wants to judge it only on how the fighter looks (which would be perfectly valid, in my opinion), then this would be a different matter and it wouldn't be necessary to ask the fighter if he's OK. But if you're going to ask a question to inform your decision then give the other guy a chance to answer.
Steele's primary duty is the safety of the fighters and he fulfilled that duty, his action was justified imo.
I understand but it goes back to what I said before that if he is going to ask a fighter if he is OK as a way of informing his decision to stop or allow the fight to continue then he should give the guy a chance to answer rather than stopping the fight immediately after asking the question which is exactly what he did.
because he saw Taylor was staring in to space, not looking at him. Steele probably expected Taylor to at least look towards him by the time he asked him again 'are you ok'. He didn't. He continued looking in to space. hence fight waved off
