Should Andrade have a KO12 win over Bute?

[Ray*]

I would have no problem if the ref stopped the fight when Bute was falling around the ring. But after the knock down Bute was able to get up and obey the refs commands so stopping the fight then with no time left would have been ridiculous.

Yep i agree, Had the referee stopped the fight earlier then he couldnt have been any problem IMHO, But for me Bute survive from the KD and there wasnt really enough time for Andrade to score a KO with that time left.

[Johnny Rebel]

Yep i agree, Had the referee stopped the fight earlier then he couldnt have been any problem IMHO, But for me Bute survive from the KD and there wasnt really enough time for Andrade to score a KO with that time left.

The only reason there was even a controversy was that the Showtime commentators were saying that the referee cheated and the fight should have been a KO for Andrade. Bute clearly was out of gas but was up in about 5 seconds and coherent enough to let the fight go on since it was already over. There was only 2 seconds left in the final round when Bute went down.

This was similar to Chavez/Taylor except there was a lot less time when Bute went down and when Taylor did. Also Taylor was unable to respond to the referees commands while Bute put his hands up and looked able to continue. I also think the ref was aware that the fight was over and Steele seemed unaware of how much time was left in the Chavez/Taylor fight.

[The Hammer]

The only reason there was even a controversy was that the Showtime commentators were saying that the referee cheated and the fight should have been a KO for Andrade.

Good to see someone else is able to understand that...

Steve Farhood created most of the controversy with his comments. People who watched the French Canadian version have a somewhat different view.

However, I agree the referee could have stopped the fight before Bute went down, because he was almost out on his feet. But if he had stopped the fight with seconds remaining, it would have been controversial.

[oldgringo]

Interesting to see such a lopsided poll. I haven't seen the full fight...I'm gonna have to watch it sometime.

[El Chicano]

That ref should be sent to Wake Island. See how many fights he can officiate there.

[The Texican]

What made it more fishy was all the one-sided officiating for Bute. There were countless holds and leg lifts that Bute never got warned for and mysterious timeouts whenever Bute got rocked. You can't forget about those. The whole thing never felt quite right.

[Mr. Ryan]

If Chavez gets a TKO12 over Melderick Taylor, then under those same guidelines of officiating Bute should have been stopped. He was totally and completely gone.

This doesn't make Bute look good because even though he dominated most of the fight, Kessler had zero issues with Andrade.

[Zarco]

what a ******** robbery that fight was with a crooked dumb ass ref...rematch!!!

[TintaBoricua]

But it is the referee's prerogative to decide on whether a fighter is ok to continue. That's how the Chavez-Taylor fight is justified. Many refs would agree than when the time runs out all the fighter has to do is beat the count (and I thought Bute looked worse than Taylor). This all became moot when the ref got weird about Librado allegedly leaving his corner.

Last night I thought that Andrade got jobbed, but after reviewing it today I think Bute had a legit win despite the piss poor job by the hometown ref.

I think EVERY SINGLE POSTER in this thread should edit their posts and confess who they were rooting for in addition to what they think should've been ruled. Then we'd see a little bias within some of them (not saying you're biased Scott).

I was rooting for Andrade, I was outraged when the fight was finished and Bute got the decision. But then I watched that part over and over again and Bute beat the count (however dazed he would've been). This is the first TIME I've heard that leaning on the ropes is not standing up...one of the more technical aspects a ref should watch out for apparently.

I found myself looking back on Chavez-Taylor. Though I wasn't alive back then, I'm sure I would've been rooting for Taylor and been outraged by the stoppage. Both fights had a devastating knockdown in the closing seconds of the final round and both fighters were very hurt, but given their admirable performance throughout the entire fight, should the winning fighter be allowed to stay in the fight since he's won nearly every round?

My point is, if you are one to state that Bute should've been allowed to continue, then Taylor should've been allowed to continue (using the criteria you might be using).

Mere Seconds left
Depriving a man of a unanimous decision win over one knockdown

I started to think, well let's see if this is just bias. Be honest:

Take your favorite fighter, he is WHIPPING on his opponent throughout the fight (winning let's say 9 rounds out of 11) and in the 12th he gets pummeled and stumbles and gets knocked down when there's 6 or 7 seconds in the fight. He gets up at 8 or 9 (he is absolutely beat up without stamina), the bell's sounded but the ref has to make the call in the next couple seconds.

If he stops the fight, would you protest? Given that your fighter outclassed his opponent for a grand majority of the fight and was deprived of his win over a stoppage (sparing from further punishment when there is no further punishment to give since the bell's sounded).

If he doesn't stop the fight, your fighter gets the win, but that win will be looked upon as a really close call. He gets the win, but with such a heated debate from the loser's team, there would be immense controversy and arguments from both ways of the spectrum.

It is just a bad, bad situation, and I feel bad for the ref who had to be in that situation. One way or the other, he was going to take serious heat from the camps.

EDIT: Reading over some of the posts on this page, I agree with RayCorey. That knockdown punch Andrade landed was absolutely FLUSH and yeah...that had STOPPAGE written all over it. But with the time it took for Bute to get up so slowly...the ref yelling Andrade to "Go to your corner!" around four times (why the hell since the fight's essentially over)...and the delayed count made it all controversial. If the ref had it stopped at that moment...controversy.

If the fight had been stopped RIGHT AFTER Andrade landed that punch...it would've been a more tolerable stoppage with little protest.

[Grimmer]

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JGM6WAfosj0

TKO for Andrade, no question about it.

Bute had to support himself on the ropes to avoid hitting the canvas earlier (look at 0:18!! in that clip), he was all over the show and not throwing anything back but taking massive hits. For his own safety he should have been pulled out of there.


Andrade won the fight but lost the decision to some shocking refereeing