Can anybody explain this to me ...

Per the telecast timer, Usyk dropped Rico with 25 secs left in the round. Rico hauled himself up about 5 secs after the KD but he was clearly wavering on his feet and wasn't standing independent off rope support for about 10 secs after the KD. After that, per repeated command, Rico finally walked toward the ref who then took Rico to the other side of the ring to have his mouthpiece replaced. The cornerman fumbled his first attempt to replace the gum shield. At that very moment, 25 secs since the KD had already elapsed - so, technically, the round was over and still no replacement of the gum shield. The mouthpiece was then replaced 27 secs after the KD but the fight still wasn't waved back on for another 4 secs, a full 31 secs after the KD. Usyk was then allowed to attack Rico for a further 7 secs after which the fight was stopped. A few things to process here. Had the round ended when it seems it should have, Rico would have been allowed a full 25 secs after the KD to recover, taking him exactly to the end of the round and still without having his mouthpiece replaced. I would think that would've given cause for an equal and opposite outcry also - Rico dropped hard with 25 secs left in the round and Usyk inexplicably deprived of following up on his advantage during that 25 sec period. Had Rico simply been afforded just a mandatory 8 count with the fight waved back on, Usyk would've had still had about 15-17 secs to get back at Rico. Conversely, did Rico appear to be any type of shape to continue some10-12 secs after the KD. Imo, no way, he wasn't fit to continue given that amount of time after the KD. Staying with the telecast timer and assuming no interruption to or pause of the timing of the round, the fight was ultimately waved off 14 secs after the end of the round. Do the refs/officials call "time out" for replacement of gum shields or the like? Not that I am necessarily aware of, but it is possible, I guess. If so, it might help to reconcile the apparent allowance of "extra" time thereafter. From 10 secs after the KD to when Rico's mouthpiece was replaced, approx. 17 secs was allowed to pass. Add another 4 secs to that before the fight was actually waved back on. So, again, that returns us to the fight being waved back on 31 secs after the KD but with the round technically (apparently) having ended 6 secs prior to the ref's call to recommence. Crazy. Safety is paramount of course, but still, taking too much time to assess whether a fighter is fit to continue or not ultimately defeats the practical intents and purposes of the sport when the safety checks actually add to the fighter's recovery time. If a ref isn't sure if a fighter is fit to continue some 12-14 secs after a KD - perhaps that should be read to speak for itself, with the fight being duly waved off. If refs/officials don't call time out, perhaps they should in fact do so. Example. After a KD an arisen fighter is duly afforded a mandatory 8 count. IF the ref really feels the need to conduct more checks on the fighter, the period after the mandatory 8 count should at least be deemed to be "time out" until the ref has satisfied himself that a fighter is fit to continue, so as to not rob the other fight of crucial secs remaining in the round. In stark contrast to the protracted post KD processes, we often see today, let's go back and look at Frazier's 15th round KD of Ali in the FOTC. Ali was dropped by a monumental left hook. Ali was back up at 4 and having his gloves rubbed together after a mandatory 8 count. Frazier was allowed back at Ali just 11 secs after the KD. Ali survived several more, huge left hooks from Frazier to see out the round. That's a true reflection of legitimate recuperative powers and many instances of fighters "surviving" KDs in today's era do not compare at all. People have waxed lyrical about Tyson Fury's recuperative powers. However, closer examination suggests that his ability to recover isn't perhaps as outstanding as it appears. Wilder dropped Fury like a dead man - but Fury was allowed a full 23 secs after the KD to recover before the fight was waved back. Same story vs Ngannou - a good 23 secs or so after the KD before the fight was waved back on. Finally, round 9 vs Usyk. Another 23 secs or so allowed for recovery after Fury was deemed to have been technically knocked down. That took Fury all the way to the round having only having a scant 2 secs left. So, after the deemed KD, Usyk was basically prevented from getting back at Fury for a full 25 secs. To add insult to injury, after not stopping the fight thereby deeming Fury fit to continue, the ref still saw need to assist/lead Fury part way back to his corner after the round had finished. It's a black and white rule that a fighter is required to return to his corner under his own steam - so that rule was clearly breached in Usyk vs Fury 1. The ref's actions in that instance indicated that he hadn't determined that Fury was necessarily fit to continue. We often see such actions but ONLY after a ref has stopped a fight - though I just now recalled that Carlos Padilla did something similar for Joe Frazier after the 14th round of the Thrilla In Manilla - perhaps based on same, Padilla should've called the fight in that moment but of course, we know that Eddie Futch did call the fight between rounds, humanely preventing any further punishment to Joe. Going back to Ali, some have tried to argue that Ali was assisted back to his corner after the Cooper KD. That is not true at all. Ali clearly returned to his corner under his own powers before his cornermen began attending to him. No controversy in that regard whatsoever. Ali also only gained an extra 6 secs after the rest period following round 4. New gloves were sought but not actually fitted. Any claims of the extra time being longer than 6 secs (I've read up to 3 minutes, lol) are pure BS.

The referee made a total mess out of that last sequence. Rico was out and Usyk should have got an opportunity to finish it properly in the 11th round. Now, he did finish it, but in an ugly way where the referee stopped it when it should have not been stopped. The referee messed it up, and try to fix mistake by messing it up again. Yes, it even looked like he realized he was jumping the gun, but he had already fallen in too much and went through with calling it. That's how it looked in real-time to me, I haven't watched it back yet. That momentarily realization is what made it look bad to me imo. Rico earned more time to recover, but he is also not a known commodity in 11th round of a fight he is now falling apart in. That is the drawback of this kind of odd-ball matchmaking. It looked bad and I knew people were not going to "feel right" about it and I don't blame them. One or two more sequences and it would have been fine.

I think the referee realised he messed up, but it was too late, and he compensated in the worst way possible. I am half glad he stopped the fight when he did, as it would be a brutal KO, but on the other hand, it is annoying having people focusing only on that. Rico was gone either way. He wouldn’t survive 20 secs in the 12th. Rico and Peter Fury will be glad he stopped it too. He didn't only save Rico from a damaging KO, he more or less guaranteed him a lucrative rematch

:bottle: :nono: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTTLhl92nJg Ok, so it's only the shorts you can't post. Thanks for finding the full video version, Ive added it to my post

Looks like you are not allowed to post YT videos in this forum any more. Great.:bottle: :nono: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTTLhl92nJg

I was surprised the ref didn't stop it when Rico got up and slumped against the ropes in the corner like that. He was clearly in no condition to defend himself and there was still 20 seconds left in the round. I think the referee realised he messed up, but it was too late, and he compensated in the worst way possible. I am half glad he stopped the fight when he did, as it would be a brutal KO, but on the other hand, it is annoying having people focusing only on that. Rico was gone either way. He wouldn’t survive 20 secs in the 12th.

The referee made a total mess out of that last sequence. Rico was out and Usyk should have got an opportunity to finish it properly in the 11th round. Now, he did finish it, but in an ugly way where the referee stopped it when it should have not been stopped. The referee messed it up, and try to fix mistake by messing it up again. I was surprised the ref didn't stop it when Rico got up and slumped against the ropes in the corner like that. He was clearly in no condition to defend himself and there was still 20 seconds left in the round.

Looks like you are not allowed to post YT videos in this forum any more. Great.

The referee made a total mess out of that last sequence. Rico was out and Usyk should have got an opportunity to finish it properly in the 11th round. Now, he did finish it, but in an ugly way where the referee stopped it when it should have not been stopped. The referee messed it up, and try to fix mistake by messing it up again.