While I would agree that early stoppages are a problem in the sport today, the ref made a good call here. Takam took about 25 unanswered punches to the head and the ref didn't look to intervene until the last right hand that sent Takam flying.
It's not a matter of unanswered punches. It's their effect. Takam weathered them well. Blocked or slipped many. He was keeping his head low, staying inside where the punches couldn't land clean. He was rocked. He was hurt. But he wasn't in danger. Most likely he would have gotten dropped in a second or two and then it might have been appropriate to stop the fight. This was premature.
Disagree here. You have to show the ref after being hurt you can defend yourself, not throwing punches only tells the ref one thing, you don't have the capacity to defend yourself and so will step in. Yeah he was slipping some shots, but he was also taking a load of shots and was clearly hurt again when the ref stepped in. If it was near the end of he round then yeah maybe the ref could of let him continue knowing the bell could save him but they were still in the first minute and Takam had taken a pounding the whole round and not throwing, Takam showed nothing to suggest he could take 2 more mins of this.
Unanswered punishment shouldn't be overlooked. It demonstrates that a boxer no longer has the cognitive wherewithal to defend themselves properly. Just compare this stoppage to Takam-Joshua which was premature, Joshua lands a couple punches and as Takam fires back they end it. Here it's just one way traffic, yeah maybe not every single punch landed by Joyce was devastating but Takam wasn't putting up any type of meaningful resistance.
He legs went twice, badly and he took at least 16 punches without throwing back I thought it was a BS stoppage at first but I've watched it back a few times now and its not as bad as it first seems
Yep this the bloodlust from some fans baffles me. If you don't defend yourself you will get stopped. If you get dropped 3 times and there's a 3 knockdown rule you will get stopped even if it looks like you can continue.
Its not bloodlust, its about giving a fighter his full opportunity to win. When you've got a guy like Joyce opening up and exposed while trying to take a bloke out, I think the ref should really make sure the hurt fighter is hurt. I saw what I thought was 'waiting' on Takam's part...but I'll wait until I see it properly before getting ready to die on this hill.
Second time Takam has been questionably stopped in the U.K. Just bring back mandatory 8 counts. It´s fair to the boxers, the referees and the fans. Refereeing is a hard job, and mistakes are easy to make. I for one would rather have a fight stopped early instead of taking the risk of letting it go on for too long. However, 8 counts would work great there.
Of course, he wasn't going to make it another two minutes. That doesn't mean that he was done. Did you see how pissed he was when the ref stopped it?
Usually, I would agree. But not in this case. Often unanswered punches does mean what you say. But sometimes guys shell up and try to weather the storm.
