If that ref did Gatti/Ward the fight would have been stopped a dozen times

It's not the ref's fault that Lee opted to not block anything Vera was throwing. Obviously it's nice to have fights that have definitive endings, but the kid could have been seriously hurt if he continued to get battered like that.

You know what? Maybe Gatti-Ward should have been stopped man. It is chilling to hear about the health problems both those guys have had. I believe that Ward still has severe headaches and double vision in one eye, which occurred after the third fight with Gatti.

 

Somewhere, Frank Cappuccino is shaking his head.

 

if you think about it, the stoppage was okay.

look at what happened to those fighters you mentioned AFTER the fight. they've given their all and took something out of them

 

I would have accepted it if it was stopped at another time but after he lands a clean punch? Either way I still don't think Andy would have made it out, he didn't deal well with being in trouble at all. This re-affirms why I love Kelly Pavlik.

 

That was an awful stoppage. The man was just recovering from the battering he'd been taking throughout the round. Watch the sequence where the fight is stopped- he lands a one-two, he does eat a flush right, but then he snaps right back with a clean counter. He lands three of the last four punches to connect, and the referee stops the fight against him!

I don't know if Lee would have won anyway, but that was an absolutely asinine stoppage.

 

No, the stoppage was not ok, he was intelligently defending himself, ****, he was doing more than that, he was landing effective OFFENSE.

Not likeing the damage fighters recieve is one thing, but thats the nature of the sport, what that ref did is clearly contrary to the rules and the spirit of the sport.

 

The sad part is that this stuff like this only entertains the casual guy groomed on wars and Rocky movie's, the hardcore fan tends to be entertained by top skill matches, which most of the time result in less damage taken unless you're dealing with a Marquez-Vasquez situation.

But yes, Gatti-Ward were 3 ridiculously brutal fights, but the only time the fight could have been reasonably stopped was round 9, which happened to be the so called 'round of the century'.

Lee's fight was a horrible stoppage, one of the worst I've seen.

 

i was at the fight and just didn't understand the ref stopping it at that point. Vera had Lee on the ropes landing at will, then they break off to the middle of the ring, Vera lands a couple punches and Lee returns fire then the ref stops it???? I just didn't understand it...If the ref was gonna stop it at least do it when hes up against the ropes or badly badly hurt. I'm not taking anything away Vera, I thought Lee was gonna destroy him and he probably should have in the first round but for the ref to stop it at that point was a disgrace. Vera was most likely going to come away with a victory some way but stopping a fight in the middle of the ring I have not seen before. The first thing I thought of after the fight was Gatti-Ward and if Frank was the ref this would have went the distance no matter what. It was a very very entertaining fight and Lee was most likely going to lose due to the fact he was gassed out and done but at least let them fight. I was very upset with stoppage especially because it was entertaining as **** and it is boxing by the way. People get hit with punches, this wasn't water polo. If you're not going to let fighters duke it out then go ref a sport with poms poms and other ****. But great fight Vera, you showed tremendous heart and I just didn't like the look of Lee as soon as he came out. He didn't look in great shape or anything and I don't know if his defence is always this bad, but it was terrible tonight. I think he can rebound from this because he looks like a bright kid, but it was a very very tough loss tonight.

 

If the boxing power did their job properly, Gatti and Ward would both have been banned from boxing after the first fight.

 

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