I’ve actually never seen this before. I thought Cooper was the first to knock Clay down, so first of all: thank you!
As for the stoppage, I thought it was odd that the ref didn’t count the time’s that Banks got knocked down (if the ropes keep you from being knocked down, it’s a knock down. Clearly happened twice.) I noticed the doctor checking on banks between rounds and then the camera cut. The problem with old fights like this where it’s just rounds and editing, we don’t know if the doctor talked to the ref. So that would leave two scenarios. If he did talk to him, he warned that if Banks continued to just eat shots, to call the fight. Or the ref just got tired of seeing it one sided. That’s very common, usually in lower leagues where mismatches are more common. The ref will tell a fighter “if I don’t see more from you I’m ending the fight” The fact that neither Banks nor his corner argued the stoppage tells me that it was a good call.
You're welcome.
This fight has historical significance in that Dundee said and wrote that Clay/Ali's quick recovery "told" Dundee that he would become champ.
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