Was Chavez-Taylor A Good Call?

[steptwome]

Oh, Heeeeeellllllllllll No

[THE REED]

I can UNDERSTAND the reasoning of the stoppage... but fact is.... the fight was over in FIVE seconds.... he wouldnt of even got hit again... he deserved those 5 seconds.. the damage had been done already...

but on the other hand... i understand it... no matter how much time is left... he wasnt fit to continue... he couldnt answer when steele asked him 3 times...

[Scott9945]

Completely wrong. A referee is not obligated, and actually should not, consider who he thinks may be ahead on the cards when he's determining if a fighter can continue. If a fighter cannot respond, he's done. If he can't stand under his own power and the ref thinks he is too battered and hurt, then that's what he considers. That's it.

I mean, imagine the ref having to, while he's asking the fighter if he's ok, look around to see how much time is left. "Oh, there's not much time left, you're unfit to continue, but I'll let you continue since there's not much time left." LOL NO! If you're unfit to continue, that's it. The end.

"Um, oh you're way ahead on the scorecards, so even though you can barely stand and aren't coherent and can't answer my questions, I'll let you continue." LOL Just think about what you're saying. It's completely wrong.

Referees stop fights all the time when they feel a fighter is taking a lot of punishment and is hopelessly behind in the fight. It is most definitely a factor. They usually give the benefit of the doubt when the fight is close enough for either man to win. Obviously when a boxer is taking punishment and is one punch away from serious injury (Corrales-Castillo I), then you need to act immediately. But boxing history is full of fighters allowed to continue (even in fights refereed by Richard Steele) in much worse condition than Meldrick Taylor was in, and there were no tragic consequences. Taylor had only been down once in the fight, was standing up ready to resume combat, and Steele had to know that the fight was mere seconds from being over.

[ANDROID_DOES]

Your argument is lame. The only time there is a ten count is if the fighter is off his feet. That is Boxing 101, genius. Taylor beat the ten count. He was standing up and there was no count when the fight was stopped, so your point is full of ****. There were no rules that would have been "bent". It was a judgement call. And time, scoring, and everything going on in a fight is a factor the referee needs to consider. Of all the arguments for stopping the fight, yours was the worst one.

Do you notice you have no arguement?????? Taylor didnt not respond. standing up is not responding!!! you must not understand boxing mr. 101 have you even been in the ring before? steele aksed taylor more then once if he was okay. taylor didnt respond not one time. Taylor didnt even have enough focus to know where he was at or what he was doing. If he did he would of simply said yes im ok nodded his head (even though he wasnt) but fight would went on for whatever time period was left. If you dont answer the refs call you're out how hard is that to understand??????????????????

[Scott9945]

Do you notice you have no arguement?????? Taylor didnt not respond. standing up is not responding!!! you must not understand boxing mr. 101 have you even been in the ring before? steele aksed taylor more then once if he was okay. taylor didnt respond not one time. Taylor didnt even have enough focus to know where he was at or what he was doing. If he did he would of simply said yes im ok nodded his head (even though he wasnt) but fight would went on for whatever time period was left. If you dont answer the refs call you're out how hard is that to understand??????????????????

Somebody who said that Taylor didn't beat the 10 count shouldn't be talking about having no argument. It was clear that Taylor was looking at his trainer and probably didn't hear the ref over the crowd noise. If you are so concerned with procedure, how come Steele didn't insist that Chavez was in a neutral corner? The replay clearly shows that he wasn't. That alone would have allowed enough time for the final bell to ring.

[steptwome]

Do you notice you have no arguement?????? Taylor didnt not respond. standing up is not responding!!! you must not understand boxing mr. 101 have you even been in the ring before? steele aksed taylor more then once if he was okay. taylor didnt respond not one time. Taylor didnt even have enough focus to know where he was at or what he was doing. If he did he would of simply said yes im ok nodded his head (even though he wasnt) but fight would went on for whatever time period was left. If you dont answer the refs call you're out how hard is that to understand??????????????????

........I challenge you to rewatch that fight...and trust ...you will have a different opinion....don't take my word for it

[BattlingNelson]

The poll shows that most found the stoppage incorrect. Well I didn't. Neither when I watched it live nor when I rewatched.

Under boxing rules the fight must be stopped when a fighter is unable to defend himself. Regardless of it being 2 min. before rounds end or 2 sec. Taylor should have taken a knee and he would have won but he didn't 'cause he didn't know where he was.

You cant expect the ref. to, in the heat of battle, know the time when he has to make a decision in a split-second. The ref. must always think safety first. Good call by Steele. The right call.

[mcentepede]

I really admire the sense of humor that most of you have. Chavez-Taylor is one of the most controversial fights of all time. Period. I will break it down for everybody using 5th grader logic. Chavez-Taylor=controversy, Chavez-Whittaker=controversy, Chavez-Randall-Contoversy, Don King=Controversy, Chavez+Don King=? Yep, controversy. Steele took some bribes for this fight and others, Everybody and their grandma knew it was last round, less than 10 seconds left in fight(warning bell rings when 10 seconds left in round) They both took punishment, Latinos are more vulnerable to body shots than face...Taylor had uglier face, Chavez had body damage...great fight though

[Kilrain]

Bad, simply because there was such little time left on the clock and Chavez could really have inflicted no further damage, and Mel woulda won the biggest fight of his life. But there's a lot going on in there. Steele got caught up in it, he didn't think. He made a snap judgement. And because he made a snap judgement he'll forever be known as **** Steele

[ANDROID_DOES]

Somebody who said that Taylor didn't beat the 10 count shouldn't be talking about having no argument. It was clear that Taylor was looking at his trainer and probably didn't hear the ref over the crowd noise. If you are so concerned with procedure, how come Steele didn't insist that Chavez was in a neutral corner? The replay clearly shows that he wasn't. That alone would have allowed enough time for the final bell to ring.

So did he answer richard steels question ????????? no he didnt. steel was in his face yelling at him asking him if he's okay dont make up excuses he couldnt hear how do you know. IM sure he heard him how cant you he's right in front of you. And who looks at their trainers when they get knocked down lmao. taylor didn't know what was going on he was out! If this was in the middle of the round then you wouldn't be saying **** you would say it was a good stoppage taylor was badly hurt and out on his feet which is very obvious. but since it was 5 seconds before the bell rang it's a horrible call but im sorrry why should rules be bent again for a fighter???? steele asked him if he was ok more then once taylor couldnt respond and didnt respond fight over. why is this an argument again? oh because you wanted the rules bent. they should add that to the rules then. "no matter how hurt a fighter is if you as a fighter cant answer the ref and dont give any sign that know what the **** you doing we willl let it slide if its under 5 seconds of the round"