(POLL): Was Richard Steele wrong for stopping Chavez-Taylor?

[BattlingNelson]

Taylor wasn't responding to Steele. Instead he was looking at his cornerman Lou Duva going crazy.

Bottomline: Taylor wasn't responsive so Steele was correct in stopping the fight. I don't care if there's a minute or a second left in the round. That point is irrelevant.

[BoxingGenius27]

Woow because i thought this fight should be stopped, i'm suppose to think every fight should be stopped?

Yea i thought the cuts/swelling wasnt bad enough to stop a fight, so what

I love how you just respond to the "he was looking at the corner" part of my comment, yet completely ignored the most important part where he wasnt responding to steele when asked if he was ok

Right because allowing a guy to fight until he goes blind is ethically better. Lol you're a funny guy.

[BoxingGenius27]

Did it ever cross anyone's mind for one second, maybe one second that Taylor possibly didn't hear or know what Steele was saying?

I mean listen to the crowd. The crowd was going bazerk in an arena with thousands of people.

I've been in small clubs with music playing with only a few hundred people and I couldn't even hear what the girl was saying right in front of me.

So that brings me to my next question. Is Taylor a lip reader?

The guy just got knocked down and now you guys are saying that because Taylor possibly can't even hear Steele, he's suppose to read lips in the state he's in?

No, if you look at the tape, he's obviously looking at lou Duva. I don't think he heard what Steele was saying. Steele being an experience referree, should give him the benifit of the doubt like so many other fighters were given under worst circumstances.

[2120]

i understand all the points made in favor of being a bad stoppage

chavez would have or wouldnt have enough time to land a signaficant blow that we will never know

but the one thing for me that seals the deal that it was a fair stoppage

was the simple reason that taylor did not respond twice to the question are you ok

when a fighter is asked that and he doesnt respond you stop the fight. you cannot get around that or avoid that.

steele is focused on taylor he cannot assume taylor is being distracted by his trainer duva.

the only thing steele can assume about taylor when he does not respond to his questions is that taylor is a beaten fighter and is not mentally there to respond to this question

or is mentally there and is making a concious decision not to answer to avoid fighting. under those circumstances you stop the fight.

[RINGG]

I don't blame Steele because he asked Taylor is he was alright and Taylor just stared off without an answer, but with only a little time in a fight Taylor was ahead in, it was too bad he wasn't given another chance. I would say it was an "unfortunite stoppage" more than a bad one. I do understand arguements both ways though.

[Mr. Philadel]

steele saved taylors life

the complete opposite!!

its so easy to sit back in your crib or comfort zone and have a opinion...people talk about the RULES!!!...there's a red light that flashed in the corner that signals thae last 10 seconds of a round or something like that...the light was flashing as Taylor got up and Steele is SUPPOSED to see that...that his job as a ref...refs are multi-taskers...well at least they're supposed to be....if Steele does his job CORRECTLY...Taylor becomes the first man to beat Chavez....and for the record, it was 2 seconds remaining on the clock...2 ***ing lousy seconds!!!

Steele had no right, NONE what so ever for stopping the fight with less than air remaining on the clock....if Chavez was who they said he was we wouldn't be talking about the refs decision....Taylor didn't respond qucik enough to a verbal in a place and situation that required ALOT of noise...the place was in a frenzy....allow him to step forward and see what his legs look like, see if he's able to defend himself...ALLOW the champ the benefit of the doubt....this is the type of judgement a ref has to make...Steele made the WRONG call....and it baffles me that so many THINK he was correct and played by the rules...smh..WOW!!!...the ONLY argument you dudes are laying down is the "he didn't respond to the ref's verbal"...GTFOH...the ref made a mistake...just like many others...just like that ref in the Molia-Kirkland fight this weekend...they ALL make mistakes...Steele made one on March 17, 1990

[BattlingNelson]

Did it ever cross anyone's mind for one second, maybe one second that Taylor possibly didn't hear or know what Steele was saying?

I mean listen to the crowd. The crowd was going bazerk in an arena with thousands of people.

I've been in small clubs with music playing with only a few hundred people and I couldn't even hear what the girl was saying right in front of me.

So that brings me to my next question. Is Taylor a lip reader?

The guy just got knocked down and now you guys are saying that because Taylor possibly can't even hear Steele, he's suppose to read lips in the state he's in?

No, if you look at the tape, he's obviously looking at lou Duva. I don't think he heard what Steele was saying. Steele being an experience referree, should give him the benifit of the doubt like so many other fighters were given under worst circumstances.

Dude. Taylor should have looked at Steele. Every fighter knows that. The fact that he looked at his second shows the state of disorientation he was in.

[IronDanHamza]

the complete opposite!!

its so easy to sit back in your crib or comfort zone and have a opinion...people talk about the RULES!!!...there's a red light that flashed in the corner that signals thae last 10 seconds of a round or something like that...the light was flashing as Taylor got up and Steele is SUPPOSED to see that...that his job as a ref...refs are multi-taskers...well at least they're supposed to be....if Steele does his job CORRECTLY...Taylor becomes the first man to beat Chavez....and for the record, it was 2 seconds remaining on the clock...2 ***ing lousy seconds!!!

Steele had no right, NONE what so ever for stopping the fight with less than air remaining on the clock....if Chavez was who they said he was we wouldn't be talking about the refs decision....Taylor didn't respond qucik enough to a verbal in a place and situation that required ALOT of noise...the place was in a frenzy....allow him to step forward and see what his legs look like, see if he's able to defend himself...ALLOW the champ the benefit of the doubt....this is the type of judgement a ref has to make...Steele made the WRONG call....and it baffles me that so many THINK he was correct and played by the rules...smh..WOW!!!...the ONLY argument you dudes are laying down is the "he didn't respond to the ref's verbal"...GTFOH...the ref made a mistake...just like many others...just like that ref in the Molia-Kirkland fight this weekend...they ALL make mistakes...Steele made one on March 17, 1990

Can't believe that fight was 22 years ago.

[BoxingGenius27]

Dude. Taylor should have looked at Steele. Every fighter knows that. The fact that he looked at his second shows the state of disorientation he was in.

If you get asked by the ref "are you ok?" two times you better give some answer or show some positive reaction, if you canīt it means you are not in condition to fight. Basic stuff.

Did Richard Steele ask Taylor to walk forward?

Did Steele pull Taylor's gloves together toward him like all refs do after a knockdown?

When Steele saw Taylor looking in the other direction, as a responsible/elite referree, did Steele try to get Taylor's undivided attention?

Steele asked Taylor 2 times in less than a second if he was ok? How did Steele know if Taylor heard him? I've been in nightclubs with a few hundred people and I couldn't hear who was right in front of me. How are we sure Taylor heard Steele in an arena with thousands???

My question is, did Steele exhaust ALL resources before stopping the fight?

Since when was stopping a fight solely depended on "Are you ok"? I've seen guys falling from one side of the ring to the other while screaming "I'm fine". Look at Zab Judah FFS!

Zab Judah fell 2 times while saying "he was ok" for each fall. Did that mean he was ok?

Lastly, Weren't ref's and fighters notified when there was 10 seconds left in the fight because of the guy that was KO'd after the bell?

I'm pretty sure the 10-second notification rule was implemented for that fight. What does that mean? It means Steele knew exactly how much time was left.

[BMWM3P]

Bad stoppage, Taylor had just dominated Chavez for 11 rounds the guy got knocked down but he did get up and wanted to fight. He was clearly winning and deserved a chance to either finish the fight or go out on his shield.