By Keith Idec
NEW YORK – Lou DiBella defended referee Harvey Dock for Dock’s stoppage of the Daniel Jacobs-Peter Quillin fight in the first round Saturday night.
Dock halted their WBA middleweight title fight 1 minute and 25 seconds into the first round with a disoriented Quillin still on his feet. Quillin (32-1-1, 23 KOs) never went down, but Jacobs’ crushing right hand to the temple left the former WBO middleweight champion stumbling across the ring on unstable legs.
“It was a rightful stoppage,” said DiBella, who promoted Saturday night’s card. “That guy’s a good referee. When he didn’t take the knee, you had to stop it. If he would’ve taken the knee and gotten up and shown that he had his bearings about him, then it wouldn’t have been. But he was out on his feet. It was courage that had him out on his feet, and it was courage that would’ve gotten him hurt.
“That’s why I think Harvey Dock’s a great referee. There’s one where you’re gonna take some criticism for a totally righteous stoppage. That’s why I’m even mentioning it. I had a great vantage point to look at Peter, and it was courage that had him on his feet – totally courage. He didn’t know where he was. If he did, he would’ve been on his knee, waiting for a count of eight, getting up, taking as much time as he could, and then probably going across and holding. But he just wanted to continue on courage, but he could’ve gotten killed.”
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
