This content is protected If you carefully watch the first round not only does Sanders hit him very hard multiple times but he had him hurt seriously for serval shots till a shot at the temple to me puts him down. I think the ref blew it … watch from 5:12 on ….
I thought it should have been scored as a knockdown. Elite counter by Saunders off the ropes. He really suckered Vitali in and Vitali had no idea what hit him going by the look of shock on his face. Higher quality clip of it here, timestamped. 6.15 if that doesn't work. Good explanation. This content is protected
He had him hurt but it's a combination of a shove and a trip for mine. If you look close enough at their feet Vitali's left foot is locked in outside of Sanders right foot at the exact moment Sanders pushes him to the left which sure doesn't help Vitali keep his balance.
its 50-50 for me, sometimes i think it was a knockdown and sometimes i feel like you do. However, IMO Briggs should have been credited with a knockdown vs Lewis.
I've seen similar events classed as KD's. What tips it for me is you can clearly see Vitali's foot hooked behind Sanders foot and the push is in such a direction that the hooked foot comes into play, balance wise. If it was ruled a KD there'd hardly be an outcry. We've seen far worse. It would have been great seeing doza fending off Vitali being, gasp, dropped lol From memory Briggs sent him flying into the ropes which held him up.
No. And not even close really! Yes Sanders hurt Vitali (Accomplishment In itself!) but that fall was do to Sanders shoving him and a trip. And it’s really clear as day when you watch it on slow motion
This is probably the best summation. Sanders caught Vitali coming in with his straight left. He'd probably have dumped 9 / 10 boxers onto the canvas with it. If Vitali was off balance it's no surprise, but having no KD ruled is also OK. That said, if it HAD been ruled a KD it would have been interesting to see if it had changed the complexion of the fight. Sanders liked guys to over commit so that he could counter them. Vitali needing to catch up after a KD would have created that scenario. In the actual fight Sanders had to chase Vitali for much of the fight, and Vitali fought superbly and fairly conservatively to punish Sanders instead.
Slip and you can tell because the fall does not come with the punch. It feels like watching a movie in which the sound is off a second.
It looks like a close call to me. If I was an instant replay judge I would have to side with the referee because there is not enough there to overturn his call in the ring.
Agreed, JT. Vitali was clearly hurt and that may have contributed to him losing his balance and falling as easily as he did, but it wasn't a punch that put him down, rather a combination of a tangle of feet and a shove. No KD, though Vitali was certainly still buzzed from that straight left Sanders threw off the ropes a few moments earlier.
Vitali got rocked by the left a bit earlier but no punch resulted in him going to the canvas — slip/push/tripped combination. No no KD. Roberto Duran, however, did seem to go down vs light-hitting Lou Bizzarro (perhaps twice) in the seventh round. Not hurt, off-balance but a punch was the impetus if he hit the canvas with hand or knee. https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/did-lou-bizzarro-knock-down-roberto-duran.587153/
