Tyson v Ruddock 1 - a fair stoppage?

There you go again. Don't the fans lose out? Don't they count? *





* I've only just noticed this by the way. An unbelievably dumb comment. :huh

 

I decry Steele

 

I think it was his worst call ever. But do you really think there was something sinister behind it?

 

A referee's only concern is the safety of the fighters, so no the fans do not count.

 

But you said the fighters don't mind either, like the loser is saying "Yeah, great, as long as i'm paid i don't give two ****s".


I disagree that the fans don't count also. If a referee is 100% legit then I your point is valid of course, but they're often not. There's a history, as in many cases alluded to in this thread, that the Don King fighter is the one getting the benefit of the doubt.

 

Everything I have seen and known about Steele tells me is 100% serious about his job.

As for pay days, yes I am sure Ruddock was annoyed at the stopage in the first fight. But the pay day he recieved for a second fight with Tyson, I am sure helped sooth his mood, it certainly soothed his passion to win.

 

No, it was not

But that apart excellent points, except IMO Steele did not make a mistake.

 

I would say it a premature stoppage, but only to a certain extent. It's the referee's job to stop the fight when he feels it's correct to do so.

Ruddock took some big shots from Tyson in the seventh, & I think it's fair to say that we would all rather an early stoppage than a late one. Prevention is better than cure! If Steele didn't step in when he did, I think it's fair to say that Tyson would have provided us with a finsish that warranted a stoppage.

Tyson also showed how durable he was in the bout, particularly in the sixth. Tyson showed smart tactics by attacking the body of Ruddock throughout the duration of the fight. Mike seemed to be concentrating on going to the body, rather than the head, most of the time.

Like I say, the stoppage was some-what premature, but only to a certain degree. The behaviour of fans & the both fighters camps, were deplorable. Not a nice scene for Boxing at all.

However, we should look on the positive side of it all. The early stoppage paved the way for a rematch, making more money for people concerned, bringing another fight to the fans etc.

 

premature but ruddock was on the receiving end of an asskicking in that round.

 

But he wouldn't have stopped it had Tyson been in exactly the same trouble, that's why Steele's a ****. Pity, he was boxing's best at one time..until King started delivering him secret brown envelopes.

 

Bad stoppage. A great referee doesn't stop it when it's too late, but also doesn't stop it when it is too soon. While it is better to stop it too soon than too late, it is even better to stop it right on time. Steele's big problem is that he was overly cautious and at times injected himself into fights prematurely. I'm not too hard on him for the Chavez-Taylor stoppage because he asked Mel if he was okay and Mel did not say yes, but Tyson-Ruddock, after Ruddock had shown he could take it and dish it right back...no, that was flat wrong.

 

I must have misssed a news story. Can you enlightend me?

 

When the fight happened, I thouth it was a punch or so early. As I've watched the replays over time I've come to the same conclusion, but with a different excuse for Steele than I have heard before.

Fighters often talk of fighting so long, that the time clock becomes a habit. The body knows when rounds are going to end, rest periods, etc. Referees have the same clock form in their heads. (mabe steele doesn't. look at Chavez vs. Taylor)

Fights also become like dances, where fighters shift and move in a certain rythm dependent on the mood that night. One fighter comes forward, the other moves away; and you have a rythm. Two fighters come forward, you have a clinch, the referee breaks the two; and you have a rythm. After you referee as many fights as Steele, I'm sure you come to recognize rythms that are similar to that which you've encountered on other nights.

Watch the stoppage of Ruddock against Tyson. You see Tyson hurt Ruddock, and Ruddock start to go back. Ruddock's arms dropping, assuming the body language of stoppage victim. It felt like a stoppage coming on, the fans were rising as such, and both fighters were playing the part. I think the length of Ruddock's reeling backward was a step behind the rythm that Steele was feeling. I think that Steele was feeling that stoppage with muscle memory, memory recall, or whatever you want to call it; and waved it off. I think that Tyson loaded up a little, and Ruddock went back a little longer than Steele's recalled reactions were going to allow.

I don't think Steel identified a hurt fighter, and saved his life. I don't think he was protecting a King fighter. I think he was just going through the motions during a physical job, and was acting out of trained reflexes.

I thought it was a couple punches too soon, but, oh well.

 

Yes it was a bit early. However, since when was refereeing boxing matches an exact science? That situation was particularly tricky and there is trememendous room for error. In fact, you hear much more often about ring deaths and late stoppages than early stoppages - this is because of frequency and not just because the former is a much greater concern than the latter.

Steele was definitely within the bounds of error and for this alone I don't criticize him at all - Ruddock is just one of those weird guys who has a habit of getting his ass kicked real bad and regularly - doesn't have the energy or ability to really fight back and indicate to the ref that he is with his senses - but does have enough energy to ***** about the stoppage as soon as it is over. Are you going to argue against the stoppages of Morrison, Smith, and Lewis? He got up for all 3 - appearing to continue and was even able to immediately ***** about it. Common sense indicates that he was in grave danger with a follow up punch from those opponents if allowed to continue. I say this more to emphasize that Ruddock is a tricky fighter to judge when he's out on his feet. Ruddock had not answered to more than a handful of Tyson's punches at that time. Also, this was NOT a championship fight.

I do think that those punches were doing serious damage - they weren't exactly "grazing" IMO - they were definitely landing with authority and very quickly in combinations - this was very reminiscent of the Pinklon Thomas KO (my favorite Tyson KO although Botha KO is special for its suspense). We were deprived of a spectacular KO of Ruddock with combinations - but I don't hold Steele responsible for it as he was within bounds and it ain't an exact science.

I will say that fans bring this issue too much without acknowledging that Ruddock was indeed getting his ass kicked severely, that to AVOID overrating Tyson or giving him too much credit, people overreact to some of the success that Ruddock experienced with his power. Tyson was no anywhere near getting WOBBLED (stunned at best) let alone losing by KO. Ruddock's chances of winning were the equivalent of lightning hitting you. Now unless your the guy my friend knew who was hit by lightning three times AND his dog was also hit once, you see my drift. Ruddock should be thankful to Steele from saving him from an ass kicking that could have taken even more from him permanently and could have avoided a big payday in the rematch.