I've just rewatched the fight and the stoppage was premature

No, he didn't. He said he respects the ref decision and doesn't want to comment on that. He was a class act as always. Yeah, gonna make a thread about Wlad soon.

I always look at the fighter who got stopped after things like that. Wlad was not complaining in the least about it as it happened. That is all the vindication I need to know the ref did his job and did it well. BTW, has Wlad himself called it too early yet? No, he didn't. He said he respects the ref decision and doesn't want to comment on that. He was a class act as always.

I always look at the fighter who got stopped after things like that. Wlad was not complaining in the least about it as it happened. That is all the vindication I need to know the ref did his job and did it well. BTW, has Wlad himself called it too early yet?

I am a huge Wlad fan and I liked the stoppage. No need to risk something major. Wlad deserved to enjoy the life after boxing. Why risk it. His only chance at that point was to KO AJ in 12th, which I don't think it would happen even if he survived. It's simple. AJ's young body got the second wing, such thing doesn't happen when you're 41. Wlad should retire and enjoy his life. He is the champion in and out of a ring! Plenty more to come for Wlad.

I thought it was slightly premature. It looked worse from the refs angle, you couldnt really see that Klit was defending pretty well. Nothing to go crazy about really. Certainly doesnt take away from the fight or the stoppage for me. Your sig is legendary

If you didn't stop the fight after Vlad's 3rd knockdown, why stop it on a missed flurry of punches with only like 30 seconds left. I would've liked to see if Joshua would've been gasses again and Klitchko could've added more dramatics. Agree. I hate it when a ref stops the fight just because a fighter is throwing, but not landing significant punches.

If you didn't stop the fight after Vlad's 3rd knockdown, why stop it on a missed flurry of punches with only like 30 seconds left. I would've liked to see if Joshua would've been gasses again and Klitchko could've added more dramatics. Same, if it continued Wlad could have been KO'd or maybe AJ runs out of gas again.

I thought it was slightly premature. It looked worse from the refs angle, you couldnt really see that Klit was defending pretty well. Nothing to go crazy about really. Certainly doesnt take away from the fight or the stoppage for me.

only 1 of those punches landed and the rest Wlad brushed off. Benefit of doubt should have been given to a legendary fighter that has had 69 fights over a 27 year career. And I'm from the UK and was rooting for Joshua. Doesn't matter cuz the ref. was giving klitschko a lot of time and sending Joshua back to the corner in the last 2 knockdowns so you could say the ref. saved klitschko earlier.

tarkin rabbish.. premature? no not firing a single shot back while having just been kd, still wobbly, already been given the botd, that's enough to have a fight stopped as we've seen time and again in boxing. watch the whole round instead of an out of context replay

If you didn't stop the fight after Vlad's 3rd knockdown, why stop it on a missed flurry of punches with only like 30 seconds left. I would've liked to see if Joshua would've been gasses again and Klitchko could've added more dramatics.

Ref made the right call. He was in a similar position to the time he got dropped for the third time and unable to keep Joshua off him. If it continued, he would have been knocked out cold.

The ref gave him 2 opportunities to turn the tide around and he was stuck in the corner with a 250 pound man throwing fight ending punches at him. What did you expect the ref to do? If that was Joshua you would be saying the ref saved his life. I'm not buying this fake outrage. Let it sink in. Klitschko lost. It was a heck of a fight with impressive performances from both men. No controversy here.

Maybe a tiny bit premature, Klit was about to escape the ropes, but i felt it was still a fair stop, Klits legs werent there anymore There under contract for rematch lets see if it goes thru

No one is saying premature stoppage until after seeing the replay. I initially thought it but got carried away with the celebrations so let it go. Having seen it a second time I'm certain. Premature stoppage.

No one is saying premature stoppage until after seeing the replay. He just got floored twice and was under serious fire. The ref did the right thing. One more big shot could have been critical. This isn't a video game.

It was a fair stoppage i think. Wlad does often look more hurt than he actually is by the way he reacts under pressure.. but it's quite easy to see why the ref jumped in. I said he might have seen out the rest of the round as the round was nearly over and Joshua might have been gassed going into the 12th but really it wasn't a bad stoppage. The man was down twice and then under real pressure on the ropes, if he had taken a big shot again and got flattened before the ref jumped in then people would be saying the ref let it go too long.

I disagree, ref almost stopped it after Vlad wasn't responding to him after the 8 count. I thought he was done. Ref did the right thing. 15-20 years ago he may have let the fight continue but not now. It was just a matter of time. Vlad was eating too many clean power shots to continue. Wlad only took about 3 shots in that whole sequence and one of them was a body shot. I'm not calling the stoppage premature nor have a problem with it but I think it should had been let to play out a little longer.

I disagree, ref almost stopped it after Vlad wasn't responding to him after the 8 count. I thought he was done. Ref did the right thing. 15-20 years ago he may have let the fight continue but not now. It was just a matter of time. Vlad was eating too many clean power shots to continue.

All I can say is wlad has got off floor to win before. Many times he has looked vulnerable but prevailed. Maybe ref should have let him get nailed to floor as wad is coming to end of career anyway. So it's not as if he was protecting the rest of wads career. So it's always best to air on side of caution. I'm sounding confused