With a thrown towel or none . . . that's a good stoppage. You never know how much damage Rafa's brain has sustained at that moment. It's better that Rafa live on to fight another day. Vasquez quit on the first fight because he can't breath which puts him in a disadvantage . . . now he came back stronger. The third fight would be the ultimate.
I watched the fight today, and after hearing it was a premature stoppage I was waiting to be pissed off, but after seeing the fight and how Marquez was looking I thought it was a good stoppage. Marquez was hurt and not throwing his punches with the same power. Safe the brain cells for the third fight. :good
Haven't seen the fight. What's wrong with boxing? Diaz vs Morales over Marquez vs Vasquez? F--k These guys are both big punchers at this weight and can truly hurt each other. I would guess that it was a good stoppage considering two or three punches could cause serious long-term damage.
I think the stoppage was premature, but the ref was probably looking at it from the standpoint that Marquez was clearly in trouble, and with that much time left in the round, he was just going to get beat down. The way he was lurching horribly whenever Vasquez's glancing blows were hitting him showed he had no legs. I think the KO was almost guaranteed in that round, and the ref chose to save Rafael from further punishment. Those that disagree have a legit point, but I can't fault the ref for trying to protect a guy who looked to have lost the ability to defend himself after already taking incredible punishment throughout the fight. I'm also glad that I predicted the outcome. I think the Showtime poll had me in the 20% minority.
Had this been the ref for such fights..... No Foreman-Lyle slugfest...... Tommy Hearns would have been stopped midrounds when Leonard hurt him at that stage in their epic Welterweight showdown...... Evander Holyfield would have been stopped by such fighters as Alex Stewart and Bert Cooper, not to mention there would have been no epic 10th round vs Riddick Bowe...... All three Gatti-Ward fights would have been stopped early...... Castillo Corrales would have been stopped anytime the ref pleased..... You give the fighters a chance to fight, once again, Raphael Marquez was not teeter tottering around the ring as Evander Holyfield was vs Riddick Bowe and that fight was not stopped........ The list goes on and on.......we would have never have seen Juan Manuel Marquez come back from 3 knockdowns to school Manny Pacquiao had we had that referee...... Either that ref panicked, or he was on the take to stop that fight in Vasquez favor at first chance. I hope it was the latter, but I fear it was not! For Christ sake, we missed out on what was surely to be an epic conclusive ending to a terrific fight! .....and the ref spit in our faces!:-(
Vlade please! Marquez still had his legs under him? What are you talking about!?! He stumbled sideways twice after the knockdown. Had he not been on the ropes he would have fell over. He had NO legs under him and that's why it was a perfect stoppage. This was exactly like the Judah-Cotto stoppage. Stopped at exactly the right time just before the coup de grace was about to come!
Divac, I agree completely with your sentiments. THough I did not watch the fight but I have two comments. 1. Throwing a towel in the ring is not a way to stop the fight. A cornermen has to climb to the ring apron and signal to the ref. This was meant to prevent anybody from just throwing the towel in the ring. 2. It's unfair to the fighter and the paying fans for the ref to stop the fight when the other fighter is still throwing.
Referees are totally entitled to stop a fight when the other fighter CAN NO LONGER DEFEND THEMSELVES. Whether they can still throw out some feeble punches is irrelevant.
Vasquez' shots were moving Marquez, but was Marquez teeter tottering aroung the ring with no legs to stand on????? Absolutely not!!! The force of Vasquez shot had just knocked Marquez back a couple of steps, but we had seen that on more than a couple of occasions in the fight and Marquez gamely fought back! I cant say I'm suprised with your analysis Scientist.....but Jesus, to compare the one way beating of Cotto to Judah to this Marquez-Vasquez fight is laughably hillarious! ......and sad!!!:-( When a fighter has gotten beatdown throughout, then a ref in that situation can say enough, I'm not going to see the fight come to its natural conclusion because you have'nt shown me you're competing..... .....but this fight was a seesaw that could have easily have had another few tide turns! Its a pity the ref did'nt let the fight come to a natural conclusion! I tell you, we missed out on a possible epic fight for all times!!!
Or a possible permanent brain damage on Rafa. :yep Even Rafa's corner didn't put up much protest with the stoppage. So give it up.
Lupe, there was no towel thrown. There was a towel thrown at the ring apron right after the fight had already been stopped but the video tape does'nt show where or who it came from, it could have come from someone sitting near ringside or who knows where.
The tide of the fight wasn't similar to Cotto-Judah, but for all intents and purposes, the ending was. There was a knockdown, there was wobbling and there was an inability to put up a defence. The force of Vasquez's shots knocked Marquez back on more than a couple of occasions? Yeah they did, but not twice in 20 seconds after a knockdown. Had the ropes not been there, Marquez would have fell out of the ring. His legs were gone, and if you're still not convinced, look at the struggle the ref has to keep Marquez up after he stumbles again after the fight has been called off.
