2 Seconds from Glory.....

[slystaff]

Should Richard Steele have stopped the Chavez-Taylor fight?

[Buddy Rydell]

I thought it was 4 seconds.

[slystaff]

I thought it was 4 seconds.

You thought wrong.

Official time at the end of the fight was 2 Mins and 58 seconds of the 12th round.

[Ugotabe Kidding]

I thought it was 4 seconds.

It was 4 seconds til the end when Steele made up his mind. The clock went two more seconds.

And Steele's ruling was correct. Taylor was in no condition to continue and the fight was not over, therefore it is referees job to stop the fight.

[Buddy Rydell]

My bad.

He was horribly beaten though. He didn't answer Steele when Steele asked if he were ok, bottom line.

[Hut*Hut]

I think there's a second angle to consider here beyond the fighters safety (which of course is paramount) - the fact that Chavez had done enough to practically incapacitate his opponent within the 36 minute fight limit. That being the case he'd done enough to have a W TKO next to his name. Conversely Taylor hadn't done enough to last the full 36 minutes.

Correct decision, IMO.

[Buddy Rydell]

It was 4 seconds til the end when Steele made up his mind. The clock went two more seconds.

And Steele's ruling was correct. Taylor was in no condition to continue and the fight was not over, therefore it is referees job to stop the fight.

See, sly. I didn't think wrong. I'm just going from memory while you're going from Meldrick's book.

[Buddy Rydell]

If a ref asks you something and you can't or don't answer after having had the living shit beat out of you, he can stop it whenever he wants. Steele probably didn't know what time it was, and the fighter's safety did come first.

[Irish 2002/2003]

Didn't Gene Pitney bring out a song about this?

Pitney feat Taylor..."And I was Only 2 Seconds From Glory, Baby".

[slystaff]

For many years I was of the view that Steele was wrong to stop the fight...given the fact that both men were unbeaten, Taylor was winning the fight and there were less than 10 seconds left at that point and therefore Chavez probably wouldn't have landed even one more punch.

But...I've changed my mind recently.

Steele, being the Ref, was closer to both fighters and as such could see the punishment that taylor was receiving when the rest of us were wowed by taylor's flurries. Steele could see the blood and swelling up close...but more importantly...Steele's not keeping his eye on the clock or listening for teh 10 second warning.....and when Taylor got up from the canvas he didn't answer Steele's questions but rather looked away from Steele at his cornermen.

A Ref's primary job is to protect the fighters...and if you ask a fightr a question after a hard knock down after a hard fight and his face is a bloody swollen mess and he doesn't respond...you have no choice but to stop it.

Therefore..Steele made the right call......

[Irish 2002/2003]

Steele was wrong. There is no way Chavez could have landed another meaningful punch. Taylor was badly beaten and Steele was probably under instructions to make sure that Chavez got the W anyways. What use was a victorious bashed-up Taylor to Don King? About half as much as a victorious undefeated Chavez.

[Ugotabe Kidding]

The only thing worth criticizing would have been that Chavez had left the neutral corner during the count and Steele didn't notice that. That however happens often and in this case Steele had a reason to concentrate on Taylor alone that it shouldn't matter IMO

[Hut*Hut]

Steele was wrong. There is no way Chavez could have landed another meaningful punch. Taylor was badly beaten and Steele was probably under instructions to make sure that Chavez got the W anyways. What use was a victorious bashed-up Taylor to Don King? About half as much as a victorious undefeated Chavez.

If you don't mind taking the time to answer, out of curiosity, how would you respond to the point I made, Irish?

[Irish 2002/2003]

If you don't mind taking the time to answer, out of curiosity, how would you respond to the point I made, Irish?

I usually just make my own point, refresh the screen, and then bask in the glory of my point. I didn't know you had made one.





Seriously....your point is good, from a combat point of view, Taylor "winning" the fight was perverse. But those are also the rules, so I guess it works both ways.

In that Taylor was standing, was cogent and conscious....we can argue thus that he was not truly incapacitated. If he was, he never would have stood back up and looked at Steele.

[Hut*Hut]

I usually just make my own point, refresh the screen, and then bask in the glory of my point. I didn't know you had made one.





Seriously....your point is good, from a combat point of view, Taylor "winning" the fight was perverse. But those are also the rules, so I guess it works both ways.

In that Taylor was standing, was cogent and conscious....we can argue thus that he was not truly incapacitated. If he was, he never would have stood back up and looked at Steele.

Well he was in no fit state to defend himself, standing or no. If it had happened at any other point in the fight, even 5-10s before then there would be ZERO debate about the stoppage.

Personally, I think fair's fair, Chavez had achieved what the rules of boxing say is the objective of he sport, within the 36 minutes available, he deserved the W.