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People say that quitting with a broken eye socket is understandable, and on some level I understand, but....
In the 1st Donaire fight Inoue had his eye socket broken as early as Round 2, then got his nose broken too. Dude fought with double vision for 10 rounds, couldn't breathe, was in pure agony every time Donaire touched him. Also suffered one of the worst cuts I've ever seen. That's 3 fight ending injuries, yet Monster dug deep, studded up, drops Donaire and won in a Fight of the Year and gets the Ali trophy. He later admitted that images of his wife and children were the only thing that got him through the fight.
Then you have Brook, who was actually outboxing Spence and leading on the scorecards by Round 8. Then he gets his eye socket broken. Soon as it happens, he stops throwing hard punches, starts tapping his eye with his glove, looking at his corner, trying to hold Spence, making weird movements, etc. You could tell mentally, Brook was done and looking for a way out. He then quits in Round 11 by taking multiple knees with 1 round left to go, right in front of his devastated wife.
"But I was seeing double vision in there... I could've been blind...."
This is why Naoya Inoue is P4P material, while Brook never was, despite being a highly skilled boxer. He's a Monster not because of his punches but because of his unbreakable will. This kid is made from the same cloth as Ali and Pacquiao. It's still a bit early, but I believe he'll go down as an ATG.
In the 1st Donaire fight Inoue had his eye socket broken as early as Round 2, then got his nose broken too. Dude fought with double vision for 10 rounds, couldn't breathe, was in pure agony every time Donaire touched him. Also suffered one of the worst cuts I've ever seen. That's 3 fight ending injuries, yet Monster dug deep, studded up, drops Donaire and won in a Fight of the Year and gets the Ali trophy. He later admitted that images of his wife and children were the only thing that got him through the fight.
Then you have Brook, who was actually outboxing Spence and leading on the scorecards by Round 8. Then he gets his eye socket broken. Soon as it happens, he stops throwing hard punches, starts tapping his eye with his glove, looking at his corner, trying to hold Spence, making weird movements, etc. You could tell mentally, Brook was done and looking for a way out. He then quits in Round 11 by taking multiple knees with 1 round left to go, right in front of his devastated wife.
"But I was seeing double vision in there... I could've been blind...."
This is why Naoya Inoue is P4P material, while Brook never was, despite being a highly skilled boxer. He's a Monster not because of his punches but because of his unbreakable will. This kid is made from the same cloth as Ali and Pacquiao. It's still a bit early, but I believe he'll go down as an ATG.