I've seen this many time on highlights but didn't know the opponent. What do people make of this, especially the KO. Brutal shot. Can't find it on youtube.
Mercer was already way passed his best when he KO'd Pegues... I had it on tape, but later recorded over it.... I believe they fought in Illinois, but don't quote me there... Mercer would go on to be hammered by Wlad Klit in 2002 on HBO.... MR.BILL
Pegues was completely overwhelmed and outclassed in that fight, and Mercer was routinely hurting him. He sent Pegues into the ropes with a couple glancing blows. The ref probably should have either called it a knockdown or stopped the fight there, because Pegues was laid out on the ropes. Unfortunately he did neither, or if he intended to do either he was too far away from the action to do it. (Which, considering how often Pegues had been hurt, was bad positioning on the ref's part.) So after a second or two of waiting and seeing Pegeus trying to disentangle himself from the ropes, Mercer wound up and completely smashed him with a right, as the ref finally saw what was coming and tried to stop him. It was slightly more than what was necessary from Mercer against such a totally overmatched opponent, and a fighter who was a bit more sportsmanlike or merciful might have hesitated longer or looked at ref to stop the fight before doing it, but I don't think it was a deliberate attempt to hurt Pegues or take a cheap shot. It was just killer instinct kicking in on a wide open opponent. My $.02.
