"Two Seconds From Glory" - Meldrick Tayler

[HaglerSteelChin]

Richard Steele has the rep of controversial decisions as his stoppage of Tyson vs Ruddock 1. He also did a horrible job in the Leonard vs Hagler fight. Leonard did hit after the bell several times and several low blows, not ONE point taken away from Leonard. Some refs would have allowed Taylor to continue knowing that there were only 2 seconds left. Just look at how Ref Green didn't stop Mancini vs Kim or even how Mancini vs Arguello lasted a few rds longer after Mancini turned his back to arguello, something that is often seen as resignation.

[Obama]

Every ref makes plenty of mistakes. Comes with the job. Steele has been on the major stage as much as anyone. He's one of the 3 most used refs of all time I reckon. When you get that much more exposure, you're going to have that many more bad days that people can remember. People never seem to remember good reffing jobs, just ****ty ones. I consider Kenny Bayless the best ref in the business today, and I won't be surprised if by the end of his career people ride him as a terrible ref just because of a handful of fights.

[HaglerSteelChin]

I think recently Tony Weeks and Steve Smoger are among my favorite refs. They don't get involved too much and allow the fighters to fight and never have given premature stoppages to the best of my recollection. Jay Nady is also a recent ref that I liked and i don't blame him for the whole Zab Judah incident with KostyaTszyu. Juhah needed to take 8 seconds and than get up but he got up to quick and started to wobble and Nady had no choice to stop it. I think after the Mancini vs Kim fight many refs are not going to take a chance of they think a fighter is hurt. I also like Joe Cortez who is often maligned.

I use to think highly of Kenny Bayless but i do think he gives too much warnings about low blows. When in fact they are not low blows. Pacman vs Cotto is a prime example. Pac always pretends he is getting hit low but whn in fact they are in the navel or border area. Pac even once fooled a ref to think he was hit low but when it was a clean blow- that was the Solis fight. Bayless kept warning about low punches that were not there. He also warns often about being careful with headbutts when fighters are in close. This is a distraction for inside fighter.

Who knows what would have happened if another ref did the Chavez vs Taylor 1 fight?

[Obama]

I personally can't forgive Nady for Barrera vs Marquez.

[BattlingNelson]

Taylor didn't respond to Steele so what was he gonna do? In my book Steele did the right thing. We might have been only one punch away from a fatality.

If anything Duva is to blame as also mentioned by *****. Duva sprinted onto the ring apron and shouted like a madman clearly distracting Taylor. Without Duvas intervention Taylor just might have gathered himself enough to respond to Steele's (very simple) question.

[JAB5239]

Taylor didn't respond to Steele so what was he gonna do? In my book Steele did the right thing. We might have been only one punch away from a fatality.

If anything Duva is to blame as also mentioned by *****. Duva sprinted onto the ring apron and shouted like a madman clearly distracting Taylor. Without Duvas intervention Taylor just might have gathered himself enough to respond to Steele's (very simple) question.

I've always thought Steele made the right call. Im with you and ***** on this 100%.