I didn't say it wasn't fair. It would be unfair to Chavez to take how much time is left in the round, that is irrelivent. But I thought he was just so fast in doing it. I mean, it just looked strange it happened so fast. The guy has just fought 12 rds, tired, maybe dazed, or even hurt, but give him a second to respond to hear how he sounds.
I meant to take how much time is left in the round into consideration. That wouldn't be fair to the boxer who scored the knockdown
For you guys that believe Taylor was dominating a suggestion would be to watch it with the sound off. Who could give Taylor round 2? He got rocked by Chavez with both hands. He was actually in a bit of trouble.
Since when did the DKP fighter ever get screwed on the scorecards? Duva and Main Events had been through this before. No surprise. That is why he told Meldrick to go out and win the 12th instead of playing it easy.
8-3 in rounds, or 107-102 to Taylor is how I had it last time I scored. The ten point must system isn't perfect (what scoring system is?) and I can understand why some might want to downplay how far ahead Taylor was or should have been before he was stopped, because he was in such bad shape by the twelfth round that it kind of makes a mockery of the way in which boxing is scored. The only other fight I can think of right now which had the same dynamic (the guy who was a long way ahead on points actually taking much the worse punishment and getting hurt a lot more, essentially winning the boxing match but losing the fight) is the first Saad-Johnson fight for the NABF Light-Heavyweight title. But there are exceptions to every rule and for the life of me I can't see how anyone had this fight particularly close going in to the twelfth, much less how anyone could have Chavez level-pegging. As for the stoppage (I should know better than to get drawn in to this one, but oh well) - I'd like to give a short and simple stance, but I can't. By the letter of the law, Steele was well within his rights to wave it off. There is certainly no serious evidence anyone can use to state that he stopped the fight for anything other than compassionate reasons. Nevertheless, background context leaves the possibility for some speculation. Did he seem to rush his inspection a little after asking Taylor if he was ok for the second time? He left barely a nanosecond between the end of the question and waving it off - although of course, you could argue the fact that he had to ask for a second time was proof enough that the fight needed stopping. But there were no instructions ("walk to me, raise your gloves" etc.) as you might normally expect in that situation. The ring corners featured lights which flashed when there was ten seconds or less remaining in a round, and one of these was right behind Taylor's head (and flashing) when Steele waved it off. Did that impact his judgement in any way? And as has already been mentioned, Taylor did seem at least a little distracted by Duva on the ring apron. The wobbly camera makes it hard to tell, but it's arguable that Taylor did give a small nod to Steele that he was ok when asked for the first time - the problem was that he was looking over Steele's shoulder to Duva. However, in Steele's defence, he couldn't have known that Duva was vying for Taylor's attention at the time. Combine all of that with the reputation Steele had back then of being King's lackey. Steele argued afterwards that he was taking the compassionate course and had the fighter's safety in mind - all well and good, Richard, but you never seemed to have quite the same concern for fighters who weren't managed by Don King. Steele had no qualms about sending Hearns, having only just scraped past the ten count, his gumshield hanging out his mouth and wobbling all over the place, back in to action against Barkley when it was clear he was a lamb to the slaughter; he could have stepped in a lot sooner when Rosario was getting brained by Chavez; he let Tyson get away with all sorts against a hapless Bruno in 1989 etc. Compare that to how quickly he jumped in to stop Ruddock when he was giving King's golden goose Tyson a testing night's work. There are a lot of inconsistencies in Steele's work as a referee, and almost invariably his compassionate nature only seemed to come to the fore when it suited King's most valuable assets. I'm undecided on the issue and probably always will be, but I tend to err slightly towards defending Steele's position and saying that the stoppage was legitimate. There are some niggling doubts, but nothing which would stand up against the letter of the law enough for me to call it an outright injustice. But I do think there are arguments to be made on both sides, and those on either side who completely discard any opposite take on it, or who act as if there's nothing to discuss about it, are deluding themselves a little.
if steele has different stratagies for stoppages depending on who's fighter he's working with he should be called on it
He was probably Mexican, or at least Latin based. Those judged knew better than to face Suilimans wrath. Chavez was a WBC meal ticket.
Rather than question Richard Steele, question why did Lou Duva or George Benton not stop the fight after round 11? Meldrick Taylor was already showing signs of being done. He was spent, his face was bloody mask, he swallowed blood for 10 rounds at least, possible facial fractures. He actually went to the canvas throwing a punch. Meanwhile Chavez look like he just got out of shower. Not a mark on him. It's one thing to be competitive and want to want to win a fight but Taylor was a young champion with a bright future why be so short-sighted and immature? Okay with Lou we expect that. I expect more from George Benton.
Anybody who had Chavez up at the time of the stoppage needs to follow another sport because Boxing isn't your thing. Taylor was decisively ahead prior to the stoppage. Taylor's injuries have always been over exaggerated by the pro chavez side in order to justify the stoppage. The reality is, Taylor didn't need assistance walking back to the dressing room or giving an interview and was protesting the stoppage the entire time. People act like he was a broken heap on the floor who was never the same again. Simply isn't true.
Mel wasn't in that bad shape as u make him out to be. Many boxers have fallen down throwing a punch when they are tired, he was still doing a good job.
He wasn't even standing under his own power when Richard Steele stopped it. He was leaning hard against the ring post. Honestly had Steele ask Taylor to walk forward three steps on his own power you would have probably seen him collapse in a heap. Why would you say his injuries were exaggerated? If he wasn't hurt that bad why did Taylor move to 147 to avoid an immediate rematch? Can't say it was because of the weight because later on when he was shot and he had nothing to lose he made 140 and got beat again by Chavez. Anybody that takes a look at Taylor's face after that fight and doesn't see a grotesque mask should stop watching boxing.
We've Rahman look like the elephant man in the ring, does that mean he was a broken heap? We've seen part of Marciano's nose hanging down his face, doesn't mean he was a broken heap unable to continue. Getting hit in the face can cause swelling and damage, no matter how light or hard, but that doesn't mean the look of the damage matches your ability to continue or lasting effects all the time. Odd, you say he couldn't walk forward, that is your conjecture, with nothing to back it up. After the fight was called off, he was walking around the ring, he walked back to his dressing. Nobody was under his arms carrying him, he wasn't in a stretcher, he walked back still protesting the stoppage. Did he take shots, of course he did, but it's not the SUSTAINED BEATING people make it out to be is the point. Chavez wasn't landing all that much for there to be a sustained beating. Clearly Chavez did some damage, and had Taylor hurt at the end, my issue is with the people saying he got beat so bad it totally destroyed him and he was never the same again. He still put on a virtuoso performance shortly there after and won a title. That is the exaggeration I'm talking about. Huh? Taylor's plan the whole time was to move to 147, and he made this very clear he was growing out of the weight. The only reason he came back down was for the payday and possible redemption, not because that was somehow where he belonged the whole time.
It was a fight about who was the better catcher.Taylor landed a ton of punches yet could not ultimately take what Chavez dished out.His face busted up bad over the course of the rounds. Point wise, I did not think Chavez won more than 3-4 rounds.
