When would you have thrown the towel?

Apollo vs Drago

 

Vitali Briggs probably wouldn’t as Briggs never shipped a barrage whilst hurt.
Lewis McCall when McCall wasn’t answering his corner when they asked if he wanted to continue.
Haven’t watched Holmes vs Cobb.
Louis Schmeling 2 when Schmeling took that right hand that span his head like a piñata.
Baer Carnera end of the second to last round.
Dempsey Willard as soon as Willard signed the contract.

 

I would definitely stop Vitali vs Briggs in 7th round when Briggs was badly hurt and staggering around the ring

 

Schmeling-Hamas 2

 

How about a twist on this, since no one has a crystal ball — which fights would you have stopped, where the guy you would have stopped actually came back and won?

It’s easier when we know the outcome, know about an injury like a fractured eye socket after the fact, but what about Archie Moore-Yvonne Durelle I? I think I would have thrown in the towel if I were in Archie’s corner, but in doing so I would have cost him a victory as it turned out.

There’s a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking going on with these kinds of things.

Joey Curtis catches hell for stopping Mike Weaver vs. Dokes, but Weaver had been knocked down and not thrown back a punch while laying on the ropes as Dokes tees off with a lot of unanswered punches. He can’t read Weaver’s mind and know he’s OK — if I had been in Weaver’s corner (and I’ve actuallly been in this situation where a fighter of mine got stopped while not throwing back), I’d have told him after ‘if you were OK, you should have thrown back or clinched or done something.’

 

Watch it on mute. Trust me

 

Willard Dempsey
First round, when Dempsey has punched Willard into the corner and is waiting for him to get up, just throw the towel at Dempsey's face.

Carnera Bear
After the second knockdown in the 11th just before Primo quit anyway. I wouldn't have stopped it in the first 5 though.
Carnera was knocked down towards the end of the first and was on his feet when the bell rang. He was brought down in the start of the second but immediately got back up and survived. He was knocked down once in the 3rd and 5th but otherwise he was fine. The 6th was his round while 7, 8 and 9 were competitive. He took massive blows again near the end of the 10th but the bell stopped Baer. In the 11th he got up from a knockdown and gave it a go until he was brought down again and finally quit.

Louis Schmeling II
Probably after the first knockdown if not when Max was already collapsing against the ropes. There was no way he was coming back from those punches. Though I don't think Donavan would have allowed the fight to be stopped while Schmeling was still on his feet or still rising.

Holmes Cobb
The 8th. Even Larry started taking it easy afterwards and only did as much to win the round.

 

Thanks for providing the specifics of when … again, we know the outcomes, but at what point a cornerman/referee would wave it off is important.

Just saying ‘that should have been stopped earlier’ doesn’t tell us much and it’s not the same as doing it in real time without knowing the outcome. Fights nobody will mention might have had points where a guy is getting completely outclassed or battered … then turns the tables.

You can make a danged good argument to stop Matthew Saad Muhammad at several points of several fights he actually won, especially vs. Yaqui Lopez (both times really) when he’s getting pummeled on the ropes … but we have hindsight to know he came back and won.

Picking the exact point, even in hindsight, is helpful rather than just ‘well it shoulda been stopped.’

 

Baer vs Schmeling and Louis vs Schmeling 1 are interesting.
During the Baer fight I'd have thrown it after the knockdown, Schmeling wasn't making a recovery from a dozen Baer punches landing on the head.

Louis was making a comeback in the 7th and 8th rounds but Schmeling again took over in the 9th, so the breaks between the 10th and the 12th would have been good times to quit. Louis was dragging his feet in the 9th and his right hand had become sluggish and predictable. He wasn't going to take Schmeling out with the jab no matter how many times he managed to get him with it (which was plenty). On the other hand, Schmeling was sensing that Louis was wavering and he was beginning to ramp up the pressure. Throwing the towel may have been controversial though considering that by the 10th the scores would be about even.

 

Thanks Saintpat, I just wrote about when I'd have stopped the Louis-Schmeling 1936 fight and even in that case, I bet there'd be people today criticizing a "premature" stoppage. There are some fighters for whom you want to give the benefit of the doubt because of how good they are of turning a fight around. Sometimes the signs speak for themselves, if the guy's footwork is gone, they are getting punched hard and often then its time to end it but you never know when great fighters will shock you. Those Moore-Durelle moments are scarce though, is it worth it for a guy to go through that if chances are they are just getting concussed?

Having said that, would I have stopped yesterday's fight? Joshua briefly came back and almost changed the tide in the 5th. I think it's fine they let it go as far as they did.

 

Forget it! Whether on mute or not, I can't tell exactly when Larry broke his hands and should've surrendered his title...

 

A shameful decision at the end. Cobb achieved 100% accuracy with his headbutts that night but the crooked officials were never going to give him the decision, even if the crown wouldn't fit in in his swollen head by the time the fight was up.