Did the Horrendous Ref save Benn from a First Round KO Loss vs G-Man

Yes and No

A different ref would've stopped it

But then that ref would've denied him to prove he had heart and would've robbed him of his rightfully earned win.

But then again if another ref was there, McClellan wouldn't have gotten his injuries and history would've been re written

 

Don’t you think McClellan’s injuries were bound to happen?
I remember reading an article that he had actually been complaining about unusual head pain for months before the bout. In the mid rounds it started aggravating him again and he frequently brought this up to his trainers. They didn’t take this seriously and kept pushing him. If they didn’t push him past what he had to give in this fight they would’ve sooner rather than later.
The poor man was already doomed.

But yes I actually found it unusual that the fight wasn’t stopped, but Benn fought hard for the win.

 

The documentary about the fight I think called fighting for their lives talked about it and they kept mentioning something about the mouthpiece and how he wasn’t able to keep it in as a sign too

 

G-Man was overrated.

 

Depends which aspect of the refereeing you're talking about, I guess. Not stopping it when Benn was caught hanging low on the ropes? The count he gave Benn after he was put down at that point? Or those vital few seconds he bought Benn when he was warning McClellan for infractions?

Personally I've got no issues with the first two parts. I wouldn't have blamed a referee for stopping it in that first onslaught, as Benn's body did seem limp which you'd normally associate with someone who's been totally detached from his senses. But he (Asaro, the referee) could obviously see Benn close up, see his eyes etc. And once Benn was on the ring apron it was clear that, although he was hurt, he wasn't totally out of it. I'd say the fact that he collected himself fairly quickly and had the wherewithal to climb back through the ropes without falling all over the place justifies Asaro's decision to give Benn a chance.

Now the count itself. There seems to be a bit of a variance between different sanctioning bodies and national boards over this, but it's often been practiced that if a fighter is knocked through the ropes, rather than simply to the canvas, the count is extended, sometimes even up to twenty seconds (but there's grey area here). I've heard conflicting reports of whether or not Asaro was officiating under this instruction. If he was, then Benn clearly beat whatever the amended count would be. If he wasn't....Then it was close. If Asaro was only using a standard ten count, then it would have been very touch and go as to whether or not Benn was fully back in the ring and poised to resume fighting before he hit that mark. But under the circumstances of him having to climb back through the ropes, I think it'd be harsh to have counted Benn out there and I'd say he beat the count. Just.

The little breaks in the action as Asaro pulled them apart and warned McClellan are the ones which make me wonder - especially the one right after the knockdown. He inspected Benn, turned to McClellan to signal that the fight was commencing and waved him back in....Only to get back in between them and keep them apart for another few seconds before another shot was even thrown. That was definitely a little puzzling. There were a couple of other little breaks lasting a few seconds which Benn might have been grateful for in that first round, but they weren't as odd as that one I've just mentioned. McClellan was holding round the back of the head and hitting at one point (although Benn was also holding, understandably). Asaro seemed a bit quick to split them up again a while later, but McClellan made it worse for himself by losing his temper and pushing Asaro's arm away, which earned him another warning lasting a few seconds.

Would he have landed the knockout blow if these breaks hadn't occurred? Maybe. But McClellan was a little wild and slapdash with the shots he was throwing, and probably rushed it a little bit. It's not guaranteed that he finds the shot to end it, and Benn did manage to digest some meaty punches in the rest of the round, so you can't rule out the idea that he'd have survived the opener even without those lucky breaks.

I'd say Benn had the luck that night, but that doesn't mean it was a lucky victory or a fluke per se, if you see what I mean. There is some thought-provoking bits to pick out of Asaro's performance, but I don't think the evidence is anywhere near strong enough to say that he definitely robbed McClellan of a knockout.

 

Man I swear there was smoke coming off the canvas that night. The atmosphere was scary. The GMan was an intimidating presence and he had been leaving a trail of bodies all the way to England. When they had the staredown I thought Benn was prepared to die that night. He may lose but he was gonna go down swinging.
The ref did help him though.

 

Terrible referring in many regards, Chris made a very good post above, and touched on some reason why. I would also add the lack of points taking and frankly DQing Benn for all the rabbit punches. So even with all that, and we say, who knows whether Benn survives, we can also say; who knows if Gman wouldn't have been better able to finish Benn as the fight wore on, without the rabbit punches which clearly had consequences. I don't buy into the notion that Gman would've ended up like that regardless of the rabbit punches. I guess it's possible, but it's more probable that it accelerated the process dramatically. It was bad all around.

 

What does that have to do with the post???