The uppercut Usyk walked him into was brutal, then Rico spit out his gumshield to buy time, then Fury fumbled putting the gumshield back in to buy time, then Fury complained to the ref that Usyk was too close before fighting was resumed, to buy time. CLearly Rico was badly hurt and he wasn't defending himself very well, he ate most of the shots Usyk's tagged him with. Sure, maybe he should've let it go into the 12th, but Rico would've been brutalized and stopped anyway. Had he made it to the bell, Usyk would've rightfully won on points. The fight was close, but the commentators were acting like absurd children, overreacting to and overhyping the success Rico was having. Yes, Rico did magnificently, I thought he would, but based on punches landed, Usyk was very much in the fight. He didn't look great, but was landing cleaner. Ultimately, this is much ado about nothing. Usyk won, RIco was heading south in a big way. Usyk winning on the cards wouldn't have been controversial, especially with the knockdown. Meanwhile, if Rico got brutally KTFO, then people would've been bitching sayin, why didn't the ref stop it earlier!
But it was an entirely different situation. I don't have to tell myself anything. The ref stopped the fight because Rico was not defending himself after a knockdown. That is all.
It was a terrible stoppage Chris, there's no way around it. If Rico got brutally KTFO, well that's boxing, that's the ride. Usyk may well have stopped him next round but it should have played out rather than be gifted. He would have had between rounds to at least potentially recover.
I see worse practically every weekend. The only ones bellyaching are the ones invested in hating Usyk.
Champions find a way to win, Usyk won. Whether the ref stepped in too early, means **** all. Usyk was gunning for a KO, and he'd have gotten it that round or the next.
Well it sure does to the many thousands of outraged fans out there right now. Context always matters and this event certainly won't go down as a plus for Usyk.
They're being whiny reactionary assholes, being led astray by biased scumbags in the media. Rico brought an excellent gameplan, with a style tailor made to beat Usyk, and he still lost in the end.
The post fight buzz dies down, it always does, and the only ones left claspin their pearls, are the insecure ones most dedicating to hating Usyk.
I LOVE Oleksandr Usyk, as a fighter, as a person. But the stoppage was extremely fishy, no doubt about it.
But was it? Rico had been dropped hard, then he stumbled to his corner, looking out of it, doing everything in his power to buy time. Then Usyk goes for the kill, he passively backs into the corner, and starts eating punches. From the ref's perspective, it probably seemed quite reasonable. Had Foster not nearly let a man be beaten to death, no one would be that alarmed.