When did fightin out of a clinch become illegal???

Watch the replays.

 

:rofl

 

:good

Couldn't agree more. If I were the ref I would have definitely warned Ward for leading with the head early in the fight. I believe that would have made Ward hesitant to use that tactic and the fight would be more 'clean'. And I also agree about the 10th, a point off was necessary there. It was definitely the ref's fault that he never warned Ward about the head. That said, Ward took great advantage of Kessler non-existant inside game and gave him many angles, which I think made the difference.

 

Europeans think fighting out of a clinch is cheating for everyone except Ricky Hatton.

 

Of the list of times most certainly werent butts, just when the heads came together as you expect in boxing. 1.52 looks like a butt though, not a bad one but a butt none the less. It was the Hagler special, throw the punch and follow with the head in case the punch misses. 3.16 was a CLEAR and similar to the one in the 8th, sweeping in from low at the side.

 

:rofl

 

I think the ref has taken a little shine off the win for ward. I think ward would have won without the butts but with the reffing as it was the win will be slightly tainted.

 

Well the ref was often telling them to work it out (work out the clinch)... I guess that means you can fight out of it.

 

Where are the butts? i really cannot see them? Are you talking about when their heads touch each other? Wow, if you think that was bad wait until you see Ricky Hatton fight! lol

 

The ref should have given a stern warning for the head early on. He clearly wasn't forceful enough on that issue, imo. Still, I don't think in any real way Ward's head changed final outcome of the fight: it was Ward's night.

 

I think it was possible that Ward could have won without cheating. Was it Ward's decision to cheat or was it Goosen's? Ward's referee was not doing his job.

 

Liame I want to start off by saying that you seem like a quality poster and a knowledgable boxing guy, so I mean no disrespect.

But, I think your a little off base here.

I watched that Youtube link at 1:52 and 3:16 over and over again...if thats what you call blatant butting, then I bet we could find blatant butting in 90% of all boxing matches.

Just my opinion :good

 

Check out the huge billy goat one from left field, clearly intentional.

 

I'll acknowlege that there were one, maybe two instances where it could be questionable.

But both of those happened late in the fight, and had no bearing on what happened before that.

 

The rules should have been followed though. Ward could possible have won the fight without head butting, but we will never know. Could be a rematch down the road.

I still have a problem with Ward refusing to fight in the tournament unless he got all his fights in his home town.