¿Fights where one boxer takes pity on the other and tries to stop the fight?

Old man Foreman held back a few times on his overmatched opponents, doing just enough damage to get the fight stopped but not enough to really permanently hurt them.

 

Ike Williams v. Beau Jack comes to mind first.

 

Roy Jones Jr against Bryant Brannon.

 

Larry Holmes against Muhammad Alì

 

Ali against Ellis, Mathis & Quarry II

 

Larry Holmes vs Marvis Frazier was one.

Ray Mancini was also at this card and it was at the Caesars Palace in Mancini's return to the place one year after the Duk Koo Kim tragedy, so Im sure it was on the back of their minds...

 

Antonio Tarver vs Eric Harding 2

 

In addition to Marvis and Ali, I think Larry also tried to get the referee to intervene vs Leon Spinks, but I’m ont 100% on that one.

I would do it if I was getting beat to hell and back and landed one good punch, hoping the ref would reflexively step in and raise my hand.

 

Jorge Paez didn’t throw a punch against a young fighter I forget who and when it happened but all it took was moving around him a bit to see he wasn’t close to on his level he told the ref he’d hurt him, ref said essentially keep fighting (fair) and Paez KO’d him that or the next round.

 

Larry did this actually a bunch of times according to his bio against Cooney he said (or maybe thought?) “What do I have to do kill this man?” something like that I just remember him having a multiple fights where he vastly outmatched the guy and didn’t want to really hurt him, he always said he wanted to win not smash him so he can’t keep making a living.

 

Lebedev-RJ

 

Lennox gettin' more gunshy against McCall in their rematch because the nervous breakdown
Foreman against Cooney
Murtazaliev against Tszuyiu

 

I remember Duran begging the ref to stop the fight with Moore.


... then again, maybe I'm getting old and my brain is hallucinating.