Chavez vs Taylor I - Who won?

[blacklodge]

This thing with the red light has always bugged me. I think the referee's 1st priority is the safety of the fighters. I don't want the ref to be looking at the red light, reckoning who is ahead and who isn't (Did anyone find the Lawerence Cole-JMM exchange anything but unethical?), or even what round it is. My main issue is whether or not Richard Steele actually took enough time to determine that Meldrick Taylor was unfit to continue. It was a pretty quick 2 questions and and wave off. I thought that was a little shady at the time. Retrospectively, I think Steele was convinced before he ended the count, before he got up even, that Taylor was unfit to continue. The "Are you okay?"s were just a formality. And speaking of formality, regardless of the judges cards, Taylor was beaten. Also, I watched that fight live (on HBO, not in person), had virtually no bias (I didn't really like either of them too much), and had learned to ignore Lampley and the HBO crew's little man crushes they got from time to time with their signed fighters, Taylor in this case. Those guys weren't watching the same fight I was. Legendary Nights had it wrong as well. It was a fairly close fight going into that last round. I had it 7-4 in rounds for Taylor going into the 12th, with the hard momentum going to Chavez. I thought at the end of the 11th that the fight was over and Chavez was going to finish him early in the 12th. I realize the judges had Taylor ahead, but it wouldn't have been out of the question for Chavez to have taken the decision after a 10-8 12th round. Thus, I don't get too worked up about how "robbed" Taylor was.

[mrbigshot]

I agree with all you said except your last sentence. Bottom line is that it takes 36 minutes to earn a decision, not 35 minutes and 58 seconds. Taylor should have responded to Steele, yet didn't. If there were 2 minutes left no one would be complaining.

That said, I've always felt bad for Mel. That loss took the wind out of his sails.

yeah i suppose but taylor got up at 5 and was on steady legs!!!

him not verbally saying that he was alright is what made steele stop it so i take your point

i just feel sorry for taylor in that he fought a super fight but was too eager to brawl with a brawler

[5betlight]

It was the quickest "Are you ok? Are you ok?" I've ever seen. He asked him twice in less than a second, he didn't have time to respond. If almost any other ref was in the ring that night he'd have won the fight. That's what makes boxing so unique and sometimes so ****** at times, how much is left up to the judgement of one person. Chavez won it though and that's what the books show.

[IMDAZED]

It was the quickest "Are you ok? Are you ok?" I've ever seen. He asked him twice in less than a second, he didn't have time to respond. If almost any other ref was in the ring that night he'd have won the fight. That's what makes boxing so unique and sometimes so ****** at times, how much is left up to the judgement of one person. Chavez won it though and that's what the books show.

Well he might've been able to get a response in if Duva wasn't distracting him.

[wpink1]

Horrible stoppage...it is a subjective decision to be made by the Referee. Some including me believe it is the Ref's job to protect the fighter. Well if the referee was aware that first Chavez was not in the neutral corner, and would have directed chavez back there, time would have elapsed, and even if he waive chavez on, there was only 2-3 seconds left, the bell would have rang by the time Chavez would have been able to land anything..thus IMO the referee would not have been protecting Taylor from anything.

Some argue how was the referee to know. Hmmm that is why they **** on the apron and the lights around the ring go off to let them know the 10 second left in the round mark, so the ref can position himself to cut off the action after the bell sounds. Thus the referee should have known.

Finally, we know why if a fighter makes it to the final bell, that he is counted good, unlike every other round. So following that same analogy, Taylor should have been allowed to make it to the end of the fight.

Worst stoppage ever.

[blacklodge]

As far as stoppages in major fights go, I think Tua-Rahman I and Mayweather-Manfredy were far, far worse. On the same card, no less. Mayweather-Manfredy was just obscene.
Not to say it was a clean stoppage in Chavez-Taylor, but really, in that situation, Steele's job should be to watch Taylor and protect him from potentially life threatening damage. Not to watch the red light, hear the 10 second slap, or even watch Duva climbing the apron. I genuinely think referees should be instructed to do just that, although I guess I don't know why they have the light and the slap, it's just something I've taken for grantedover the years. But this is a sport where people have died. As I said in an earlier post, I think Steele's mind was made up when Taylor hit the canvas. My mind was made up going into the 12th. If Steele didn't see a genuine response from Taylor, he was stopping it. Period. Chavez had earned the TKO as much as Taylor had earned the decision, in my mind.