I have read loads of Bs on the net from people who know nothing about the sport blaming the ref for not stopping the fight, truth is it was still a competitive fight and Blackwell was still throwing shots. It's ok to be judgemental after the event and with hindsight but I have seen many fights that have made me cringe and after the event we call them classics. Im talking Gatti-Ward, Corrales-Castillo even the job Froch did on Bute. I bet the ref is living in hell right now but there were also Doctors and not forgetting his corner that could have put a stop to it. Boxing is a dangerous brave sport and this WILL happen again as tragic as it is. Lets just hope Blackwell pulls through and im sure with the heart he showed he has the strength.
I think taking unnecessary uppercuts flush over and over again wasnt a clever tactic, wasnt lockett telling him, these are scoring blows and they are doing damage. Why dont these fighters learn to hold and clinch. o'sullivan and blackwell both macho and not clever. in contrast to saunders who would swivel, upperbody movement, jab etc etc. thats all i have to say. its not the ref's fault at all.
Im glad you agree on the ref, his reputation is on the line and he did his job to the book. If the refs had stopped Hatton, Froch or Gatti fights every time they were caught multiple times flush on the chin then we would be left with boring robots like Matweather and Ward. Styles make fights and we cant 100% take the risk out of the sport. Look at G mac v Benn, it was Benn who looked like he was going to be damaged and needed pulling out but he won with tragic consequences but it is still one of the best fights I have ever seen.
I was under the impression that the ring doctor was the one who was supposed to look for the signs to prevent things like this from happening. I don't understand why the ref gets all the hate and nobody even mentions that a ring doctor exists.
Yes,this and the corner which had a first hand view of what was going on.The corner is there to protect their fighter.
Eubank Sr wanted to stop the fight and was wondering why the ref wasn't doing his duty of stopping a fight in which a man was being beaten to death but refused to go down out of pride. If Eubank Sr was able to see what was happening, the ref should have known even better since that's his fuсking job.
