Comments Thread For: Artur Beterbiev Stops Anthony Yarde in Eighth of Fire-Fight

[nikobg]

The ref should have warned him for the mouth guard and I'm not sure what was going on with the beltline, though I suppose I could give the ref the benefit of the doubt that he would have done the same for Beterbiev.

As far as the scoreguards go, it sounded like Beterbiev's own corner were concerned they might be behind. Your issues with the commentary seems to reveal your own bias. From what I heard, they sounded excited about what was going on and impartial enough. Obviously Yarde has the home interest.

In terms of British boxing being on the downturn, I'm not clear which aspect of British boxing you are talking about. I thought it was an entertaining contest before a big, energised crowd in a quality venue and I think it will have served to boost the profile of both fighters amongst casual sports fans.

Hi Monty,

Exactly my point. If the main ref is obviously leaning towards 1 of the fighters this is a very dangerous precedent considering the brutality of the sport. When Yarde first spat his mouthpiece I have no problem with referee letting him off the hook to take a quick breather but the second time Yarde should've been warned. Intentional spitting of the mouthpiece can be sanctioned with point deduction if done on purpose.

Nothing wrong with commentators supporting their countryman but the amount of sheer BS pre-fight and during the fight was insufferable. Crowd in the UK and atmosphere was amazing - there's no doubt about that and both boxers only gained from that.

Regarding downturn of British boxing:
Please note that I'm note biased toward any of the fighters or the countries they represent. In fact I've used to enjoy a lot of British boxing events and I have a long list of favorite UK boxers. It's just that you are always left with a bad feeling after some events. Whether it's promoter manipulation, favoritism from the referee, horrific scorecards results, when you see someone robbed like in the fight of Campbell Hatton vs Sonny Martinez . Stuff like this in boxing should not exist in Britain or elsewhere.

[Monty Fisto]

Hi Monty,

Exactly my point. If the main ref is obviously leaning towards 1 of the fighters this is a very dangerous precedent considering the brutality of the sport. When Yarde first spat his mouthpiece I have no problem with referee letting him off the hook to take a quick breather but the second time Yarde should've been warned. Intentional spitting of the mouthpiece can be sanctioned with point deduction if done on purpose.

Nothing wrong with commentators supporting their countryman but the amount of sheer BS pre-fight and during the fight was insufferable. Crowd in the UK and atmosphere was amazing - there's no doubt about that and both boxers only gained from that.

Regarding downturn of British boxing:
Please note that I'm note biased toward any of the fighters or the countries they represent. In fact I've used to enjoy a lot of British boxing events and I have a long list of favorite UK boxers. It's just that you are always left with a bad feeling after some events. Whether it's promoter manipulation, favoritism from the referee, horrific scorecards results, when you see someone robbed like in the fight of Campbell Hatton vs Sonny Martinez . Stuff like this in boxing should not exist in Britain or elsewhere.

Yes, you make some fair points.

I completely agree about the mouthpiece. First time, let it go. Second time, there should have been a warning.

Regarding the commentators, I just watched the fight itself and not the buildup, so I'll take your word for it.

I think we can all agree that we don't want to see bad decisions or favourable refereeing towards one fighter. At the same time, judging is subjective and there will inevitably be decisions that people completely disagree with that may not be indicative of actual corruption/manipulation. Unfortunately I think there has been the whiff of some home-leaning decisions in recent years. Any egregious ones should be investigated as a matter of course, though we should bear in mind that the cheers of the home crowd do likely influence judges and that is something i don't think you'll ever eradicate.

[Someone88]

Wow! Yes! That was a very entertaining fight. Yarde did well. Great win for Beterbiev and congratulations to him on defending the Light Heavyweight Titles!