Some stoppages are pretty easy, routine. Guy gets lit up, referee waves it off. Guy loses every round, never had a chance, referee waves it off. Guy is asleep, referee counts to 10 anyways {Zale vs Graziano III, Mundine vs Ottke :: ::} How about a few in ebb-and-flow wars where the Referee, or cornerman, got it just right. Please trawl the archives for a few. Oscar vs Vargas, great stoppage. Vargas had been right in it, started fast but it slipped away, he was hurt bad at the end of the 10th, dropped in the 11th, Oscar was teeing off, Vargas had nothing left. Vitali vs Sanders, great stoppage. See above. Pretty similar dynamic. Sanders started fast, had always done just enough to stay in it, but was beginning to get mashed. Corrales vs Castillo, another very very good stoppage. Referee might have been tempted to let it go because Castillo had been dominant immediately prior. Would Futch's decision to pull Frazier out at the end of the 14th been a good stoppage? Seems like it could go either way, Ali would himself collapse moments later. Don't allow McGirt style stoppages to cloud your vision. Those are easy calls. Guy was losing, never in it, McGirt pulls the plug then rings Sweden asking about Nobel Peace prizes. Fuck that.
Duran/Bizzarro:: I think Futch did the right thing with Smokin' Joe... guy was completely blind and was just eating one-two combos... and as battered and tired as Ali was, Futch would have been a fool to gamble on a guy like Ali quitting by sending a ridiculously courageous but totally handicapped fighter out there on a dare.
I agree, even taking into account Meldrick was far more likable then Julio, but it was the right call IMO.
