Why did referee Richard Steele allow SRL to clinch excessively without penalty? Do you believe it affected the outcome of the fight? Your opinions are appreciated.
Watch a Hector Camacho fight and ask yourself the same question. There wasn't any more excessive clinching here than in many other major fights.
It's always a referee's discretion issue as far as I'm concerned and it's up to the fighters do deal with whatever the ref allows. No excuses. And that's coming from a certifiable Hagler man in myself.
This is how every fighter is forced to view this issue. This was a great post, man. I've been looking to express this for awhile, and you put it best.
Some refs let certain things slide. Some refs are a pain in the ass. Take, for example, Eddie Futch's thoughts on Ali Vs. Frazier II. The second fight to Futch was a disgrace because referee Tony Perez allowed Ali to hold around the neck. This slowed down Joe and frustrated him, and also slowed down the fight. Ever wonder why Ali won that one so easily? The ref's style basically gift-wrapped it for a style of fighter like Ali. Futch made damn sure that for the third fight he was going to get what Joe needed to be competitive. He went up against Don King and successfully shut him up to, "make damn sure that belly button is visible" (and that the ropes are tight, among various other things). In the case of Leonard Vs. Hagler? I'd say that particular style of ref was holding back the fight. Yet, Hagler's team basically surrendered a lot of small factors in taking the fight with Leonard. If we really wanted to blame anybody for a "bad fight" I'd say Hagler's team was too willing and Leonard's team too manipulative.