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

[BoxingGenius27]

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

I didn't even see this post. You touched on all the points I was trying to touch on.

These guys are talking about Taylor didn't respond lol

There's thousands of people in the arena how do we even know Taylor heard him?

I can't even hear people in the club, let alone an arena with screaming fans lol

Since when did so much emphasis be put on responding to a question of "Are you ok"???

When Zab Judah fought Zu, he was falling all over the place while yelling "I'm fine". Was he fine?

If a fighter says they're ok right before they pass out, does that mean let the fight continue?

lol funny stuff.

[STREET CLEANER]

Stopping a fight by a ref should be viewed on a case by case basis.

Taylor needed the ropes to stand up and was asked if he could continue and he was looking away(some fighters get trained if you get knocked down or if you knock down an opponent look at the corner for instructions).

Unfortunately the fight was stopped but I can understand Steele's decision.

[Elotero]

I understand why it was stopped because Taylor was in bad bad shape and would have undoubtedly taken punishment were it to continue and he wasn't responding to Richard Steele.

But, on the other hand, he should have let it continue. IMO.

It's a tough one.

I had to watch it more than a few times to understand what Richard saw.

It really is a tough one but the right decision was made in hindsight.

Should they have let Meldrick go? Maybe. Because it was so close to the end of the fight, maybe they should have let it go.

But if you watch the fight again, watch Meldricks body language. He takes all the shots really bad, and he takes them much worse as the fight goes on. You can see him deteriorate.

My guess is Richard wanted to stop it earlier but Meldrick wouldnt let him because he kept fighting back. The second Meldrick got in trouble Richard knew he had to stop it.

Tough call on that night but right person did win.

[Twako]

bad bad stoppage.

man, montiel was in pretty bad shape more than taylor when he first got knockdown by donaire and they let him continue. steele took this chance to give it to chavez. steele should've considered that almost nothing could've happened in 2secs, because taylor really wasn't really out of the fight, he was looking at his corner that's why he failed to respond properly.

[BattlingNelson]

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.

Steele looked Taylor straight in the eye twice asking "Are you ok?"

Taylor didnt respond and the fight's over.

[jtiger777]

come on how can u guys say that he should have stopped it with 5 seconds left?????? thats terrible

[Twako]

come on how can u guys say that he should have stopped it with 5 seconds left?????? thats terrible

wasn't even 5, most likely 2-3. bad stoppage.

[Phantomas]

There you have it guys, refs should not be allowed to stop a fight when the round is almost over.

Did Richard Steele ask Taylor to walk forward?

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

Taylor should be grateful that Steele gave him a last chance to continue by asking him. Ref´s can stop the fight just because of the way you fall down or the way you are standing after getting up, Taylor was very bad and that was enough justification to stop the fight.

[elfag]

It was a legit stoppage, Taylor was extremely hurt. The ref's job is safety not to worry about what time it is in the final round. I mean if he did let it continue, it probably would have been ok because it was only a few seconds left. However, he stopped it solely on Taylor's condition which was a legit stoppage. Its not the ref's job to conduct a risk vs benefit analysis of the fighters career benefit of getting the decision win vs odds of getting brain damage.

We wouldnt be having this debate if it was the exact same clip but it happened in the 8th round instead of the end of the 12th. Nobody out there is denying that Taylor was seriously hurt. Its about if the ref should have been aware and considered the time clock in his decision but my opinion on it is that is not his job and he is watching the fighters, there is someone else who watches the clock and sounds the bell.

[elfag]

Why does everyone assume Steele knew exactly how many seconds were left in the round?

He is watching them fight. Who knows when was the last time he saw the time clock, it could have been a minute or half a minute ago. Then once the guy falls he isnt looking anywhere but at the fighter.

Taylor got dropped and hurt so bad that he was not alert and unable to respond. Give me a freaking break about the excuses such as "it could be loud in the arena and maybe taylor didnt hear him", there are only two other people in the ring.

It is not steele's fault that Taylor was not able to respond. Nor is it his job to know what second it is of the round or consider that when stopping a fight.