I enjoyed the Avanesyan vs Taylor bout last night. It wasn't a classic, the ref stopped the fight in the second round, but Taylor was game and Avanesyan was brutal and unrelenting. When the referee, Mark Lyson, stopped the fight my initial reaction was 'good work' but as I was listening to the commentary Macklin started to have me second guessing myself. 'Maybe a little early' was his take, although he was broadly supportive. Anyway I looked again and I think I was right first time. We often hear about 'British stoppages' and it's true that in recent years refs in the UK have been far quicker to stop a contest, but this one seemed justified in my view. The crowd were booing but that's fair enough, they paid their money and didn't see the replays or the closeups that the tv audience got. I doubt Taylor's corner were really put out by it, their feller was only going to get smashed if it carried on. It was a good stoppage in my view because: 1. Taylor was going to try and continue and sooner or later he was going to ship something damaging. 2. There were no unanswered questions as a result of the stoppage. There wasn't a chance Taylor could make it to points for instance or perhaps ride it out until Avenesyan tired. He had no way to win that fight. 3. There was no sign of a bias towards the 'money' fighter. There's been some fights where the A side guy has got on top even briefly and the ref appears to have been looking for a chance to stop the fight and deliver the desired outcome. Not a factor in this case. 4. Well I'm not sure there is one, that's why I started the thread. What are the criteria in your view for a good stoppage? Are there any examples of good or bad ones that stick in your memory? Is there a big difference still between US and UK refs on this? What say you?
Thought it was quick initially, but after seeing the replay, and the way Taylor "sagged" on the ropes, it was clear he was done, when a fighter sags like that, they're sitting ducks, and I don't like seeing Enzo like knockouts, ,"just to be sure". Was a perfectly good stoppage.
When I saw it back the second time it struck me as better than good. There's plenty of fights where I'm already saying 'he's done' before the ref steps in, but this was one occasion where I thought he did it precisely at the right moment.
