Richard Steele

For years I thought that Richard Steele did the right thing in stopping the Meldrick Taylor/Chavez fight when he did. It's not the ref's job to be the timekeeper, blah blah blah. But the more I think of it, the more I think he may have been rooting for the Don King fighter...

If anybody gets a chance take a look at Steele's handling of the Barry McGuigan/Steve Cruz fight four years earlier (1986). The 15th round sees Barry get the living shit knocked out of him from pillar to post, Twice he goes down and twice he looks to be in all sorts of trouble upon rising (worse shape than Taylor did anyway...) yet Steele lets him continue.:confused:


McGuigan was being hyped as being the next big thing, on the brink of superstardom etc. Is there any chance Steele was doing what he could to protect a cash cow?

There was no way Taylor should have been stopped. Steele knew there was only a few seconds left in the fight and that Taylor was easily able to finish it. After the fight when he was asked about it by a British promoter he said something like "I have to live in this town". It may have been another controversial decision he said that about, memory fails, but the Taylor decision was a commercial decision as were others.

Personally, I thought he did the right thing in the Taylor/Chavez fight, to me Taylor looked finished & if one more punch had come I think it was over. I also approve of the ref stopping it regardless of how long is left if the fighter cannot step forward as if there were another minute to go. Taylor was barely able to stand & didn't respond to anything Steele said, I think I remember hearing he'd swallowed 2 pints of his own blood through the fight.

Haven't seen the McGuigan/Cruz fight, but I remember Steele saying about the JCC/Taylor fight that he had learnt from earlier fights never to risk a fighters health for the sake of a win or something like that. Might have been on a ring death in his fight or a fight a close friend was refereeing.

I'm with you guys(Greig and Kirkland). While I would not go as far as saying Steele was in King's pocket or anything, and I do not question Steele's integrity, I do think Taylor got a raw deal. When you look closely at the sequence of events, and I'm not going to take the trouble to describe that here, then I think Steele's actions were wrong.

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Originally Posted by Kirkland Laing

There was no way Taylor should have been stopped. Steele knew there was only a few seconds left in the fight and that Taylor was easily able to finish it. After the fight when he was asked about it by a British promoter he said something like "I have to live in this town". It may have been another controversial decision he said that about, memory fails, but the Taylor decision was a commercial decision as were others.

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1.) So he should've helped Taylor by virtue of time :confused: A fighter can win at any point of any round, else what's the point of having the last 10 seconds

2.) Taylor did not respond when Steel asked him he was able to continue, so that's it, fight over - time has no relevance

3.) Not that it has any relevance, but Steele did not know how long was left in the round as he didn't have a watch and the crown was too loud for anybody to hear the 10 second indicator

Check this thread out, me and VD debating the stoppage ;)

Page 4 onwards http://www.saddoboxing.com/boxingfor...rucelee-4.html

the best refs are the ones you never recognise and steele falls into that category.

Was looking for a Steele thread lastnight.Dont know why but watched Mount Whitaker w.DQ 1 over Big bust of a heavyweight Dave Dixon.Sloppy Dixon but Mount hit him in the nuts also...Dixon hit him low in return,warned and DQ'd.Seemed to be in a hurry on Dixon.

Ive never faulted him for the Taylor stoppage.Initially we all telled because Tayor was sooooo close to a great win but in hindsight Steeles not standing there with a stop watch and was looking directly into Taylors eyes.I think Duva getting on the ring apron didnt help him answer either.Assuming he knew & If he had let it go to the bell only because of their being 2 seconds left,thats playing with fire.Where do ya draw the line.

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Originally Posted by BIG H

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Originally Posted by Kirkland Laing

There was no way Taylor should have been stopped. Steele knew there was only a few seconds left in the fight and that Taylor was easily able to finish it. After the fight when he was asked about it by a British promoter he said something like "I have to live in this town". It may have been another controversial decision he said that about, memory fails, but the Taylor decision was a commercial decision as were others.

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1.) So he should've helped Taylor by virtue of time :confused: A fighter can win at any point of any round, else what's the point of having the last 10 seconds

2.) Taylor did not respond when Steel asked him he was able to continue, so that's it, fight over - time has no relevance

3.) Not that it has any relevance, but Steele did not know how long was left in the round as he didn't have a watch and the crown was too loud for anybody to hear the 10 second indicator

Check this thread out, me and VD debating the stoppage ;)

Page 4 onwards http://www.saddoboxing.com/boxingfor...rucelee-4.html

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with regards to point 2, ask yourself how much time elapsed between Steele asking if he was ok, and Steele waving it off. I'd say that matters a lot. Steele made a snap decision.

It's been rumored Steele was in Kings pocket, no proof though. Just speculations. By the way when I saw the thread title I just knew it wasn't a praise thread. :p

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Originally Posted by hattonthehammer

the best refs are the ones you never recognise and steele falls into that category.

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You don't recognize Richard Steele? You must not have watched much boxing in the 80's.

BTW worst stoppage in the history of boxing. Don't get me started....

I just can't understand people who think that the time is of any relevance. If your reason for thinking he should've been able to continue is because there were only 3 seconds left then you are effectively saying the ref should've helped the fighter, it's no different to saying he should've helped to his feet and held him up :confused:

Taylor was fooked, and with hindsight we know how fooked he was, byt the way he was never the same again. Dr. Flip Homansky, who examined Taylor following the fight and immediately sent him to the hospital, summarized his injuries by saying "Meldrick suffered a facial fracture, he was urinating pure blood, his face was grotesquely swollen... this was a kid who was truly beaten up to the face, the body, and the brain"

If that stoppage was at 1 minute of round 8 and Taylor was already loisng badly, nobody would question the stoppage and that's the whole point, because you cannot use time as an argument, this is why ref's do not have watches.

Check out the McGuigan fight 15th round. Unfortunately this has no sound but the incident is almost identical - referee trying to give a count and Barry is looking at his corner. It happens TWICE and Steele lets it go on.:o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIIypE44ESg

Steelie did make the right decision he has not got a stop watch up his ass, he does not want the fighter to die on his guard.

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Originally Posted by BIG H

I just can't understand people who think that the time is of any relevance. If your reason for thinking he should've been able to continue is because there were only 3 seconds left then you are effectively saying the ref should've helped the fighter, it's no different to saying he should've helped to his feet and held him up :confused:

Taylor was fooked, and with hindsight we know how fooked he was, byt the way he was never the same again. Dr. Flip Homansky, who examined Taylor following the fight and immediately sent him to the hospital, summarized his injuries by saying "Meldrick suffered a facial fracture, he was urinating pure blood, his face was grotesquely swollen... this was a kid who was truly beaten up to the face, the body, and the brain"

If that stoppage was at 1 minute of round 8 and Taylor was already loisng badly, nobody would question the stoppage and that's the whole point, because you cannot use time as an argument, this is why ref's do not have watches.

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Yeah yeah, we know about that argument, we've hear it many times, but it's not the most relevant argument with respect to time. Take a look at the vid again and ask your self how much time Steele took to make up his mind. If Steele had no intention of waiting for an answer, he shouldn't have been in his face barking questions at him.

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Originally Posted by No Contest

BTW worst stoppage in the history of boxing. Don't get me started....

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Agreed i've had this debate many times especially with BIG H, and my opinion still hasn't changed Meldrick Taylor was robbed.

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Originally Posted by CGM

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Originally Posted by BIG H

I just can't understand people who think that the time is of any relevance. If your reason for thinking he should've been able to continue is because there were only 3 seconds left then you are effectively saying the ref should've helped the fighter, it's no different to saying he should've helped to his feet and held him up :confused:

Taylor was fooked, and with hindsight we know how fooked he was, byt the way he was never the same again. Dr. Flip Homansky, who examined Taylor following the fight and immediately sent him to the hospital, summarized his injuries by saying "Meldrick suffered a facial fracture, he was urinating pure blood, his face was grotesquely swollen... this was a kid who was truly beaten up to the face, the body, and the brain"

If that stoppage was at 1 minute of round 8 and Taylor was already loisng badly, nobody would question the stoppage and that's the whole point, because you cannot use time as an argument, this is why ref's do not have watches.

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Yeah yeah, we know about that argument, we've hear it many times, but it's not the most relevant argument with respect to time. Take a look at the vid again and ask your self how much time Steele took to make up his mind. If Steele had no intention of waiting for an answer, he shouldn't have been in his face barking questions at him.

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You should watch it again mate, coz Taylor hit the deck with 17 seconds left and Steele didn't manage to count to eight until there were 6sconds left, he looked very closely at Taylor and asked him if he was O.K Taylor was gone, couldn't even respond to the question

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Originally Posted by BIG H

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Originally Posted by CGM

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Originally Posted by BIG H

I just can't understand people who think that the time is of any relevance. If your reason for thinking he should've been able to continue is because there were only 3 seconds left then you are effectively saying the ref should've helped the fighter, it's no different to saying he should've helped to his feet and held him up :confused:

Taylor was fooked, and with hindsight we know how fooked he was, byt the way he was never the same again. Dr. Flip Homansky, who examined Taylor following the fight and immediately sent him to the hospital, summarized his injuries by saying "Meldrick suffered a facial fracture, he was urinating pure blood, his face was grotesquely swollen... this was a kid who was truly beaten up to the face, the body, and the brain"

If that stoppage was at 1 minute of round 8 and Taylor was already loisng badly, nobody would question the stoppage and that's the whole point, because you cannot use time as an argument, this is why ref's do not have watches.

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Yeah yeah, we know about that argument, we've hear it many times, but it's not the most relevant argument with respect to time. Take a look at the vid again and ask your self how much time Steele took to make up his mind. If Steele had no intention of waiting for an answer, he shouldn't have been in his face barking questions at him.

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You should watch it again mate, coz Taylor hit the deck with 17 seconds left and Steele didn't manage to count to eight until there were 6sconds left, he looked very closely at Taylor and asked him if he was O.K Taylor was gone, couldn't even respond to the question

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Meldrick Taylor didn't respond because he was distracted by his corner, if you look closely he turned his head into the direction of his corner, when Richard Steele was asking him the question.

And by the time Meldrick Taylor turned his head back the fight was over, Meldrick Taylor was fully aware of his surrondings, and what was going on. Richard Steele didn't give him a chance, no matter what time was left in the round he didn't give Meldrick Taylor a chance IMO.

Come on BIG H Richard Steele certainly had favored Don King fighters in the past, he ruled a BS knockdown in the Razor Ruddock vs Mike Tyson 1 fight, and need i say the controversial stoppage ?

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Originally Posted by ICB

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Originally Posted by BIG H

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Originally Posted by CGM

Yeah yeah, we know about that argument, we've hear it many times, but it's not the most relevant argument with respect to time. Take a look at the vid again and ask your self how much time Steele took to make up his mind. If Steele had no intention of waiting for an answer, he shouldn't have been in his face barking questions at him.

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You should watch it again mate, coz Taylor hit the deck with 17 seconds left and Steele didn't manage to count to eight until there were 6sconds left, he looked very closely at Taylor and asked him if he was O.K Taylor was gone, couldn't even respond to the question

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Meldrick Taylor didn't respond because he was distracted by his corner, if you look closely he turned his head into the direction of his corner, when Richard Steele was asking him the question.

And by the time Meldrick Taylor turned his head back the fight was over, Meldrick Taylor was fully aware of his surrondings, and what was going on. Richard Steele didn't give him a chance, no matter what time was left in the round he didn't give Meldrick Taylor a chance IMO.

Come on BIG H Richard Steele certainly had favored Don King fighters in the past, he ruled a BS knockdown in the Razor Ruddock vs Mike Tyson 1 fight, and need i say the controversial stoppage ?

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Whether or not he was distracted aint Steele's problem, he didn't respond and the rules are you must respond. I'm not sure Taylor was focussing on his corner, i think he was just looking around dazed, the guy was fucked

If the stoppage had occured after 1 minute of round 8 and Taylor had taken a beating for 8 rounds there would be no controversy, there is controvery becuase people look at it emotively and not objectively and no matter whether or not they same time wasn't a factor in their thoughts clearly it was.

This is an old subject. First of all I'll have to dig up that McGuigan-Cruz fight. One of my favorite fights of all time.

But to the Taylor-Chavez topic. All Meldrick had to do was look at Steele and say he was ok. But that was probably hard with that fat ass Lou Duva up on the apron doing god knows what.

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Originally Posted by BIG H

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Originally Posted by CGM

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Originally Posted by BIG H

I just can't understand people who think that the time is of any relevance. If your reason for thinking he should've been able to continue is because there were only 3 seconds left then you are effectively saying the ref should've helped the fighter, it's no different to saying he should've helped to his feet and held him up :confused:

Taylor was fooked, and with hindsight we know how fooked he was, byt the way he was never the same again. Dr. Flip Homansky, who examined Taylor following the fight and immediately sent him to the hospital, summarized his injuries by saying "Meldrick suffered a facial fracture, he was urinating pure blood, his face was grotesquely swollen... this was a kid who was truly beaten up to the face, the body, and the brain"

If that stoppage was at 1 minute of round 8 and Taylor was already loisng badly, nobody would question the stoppage and that's the whole point, because you cannot use time as an argument, this is why ref's do not have watches.

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Yeah yeah, we know about that argument, we've hear it many times, but it's not the most relevant argument with respect to time. Take a look at the vid again and ask your self how much time Steele took to make up his mind. If Steele had no intention of waiting for an answer, he shouldn't have been in his face barking questions at him.

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You should watch it again mate, coz Taylor hit the deck with 17 seconds left and Steele didn't manage to count to eight until there were 6sconds left, he looked very closely at Taylor and asked him if he was O.K Taylor was gone, couldn't even respond to the question

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I watched it plenty of times. Yeah he looked at him closely, I'll grant you that. But maybe you should watch it again, cause in addition to the distraction from the corner, I'd say at most one second elapsed from the second time Steele asked "Are you ok?" and waving it off. Hardly enough time to respond, never mind make an assessment of the answer. The point is that if Steele had taken the time needed to make a proper assessment, and that doesn't mean extensive reviews of the video tapes after the fact, it shouldn't have ended the way it did.

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Originally Posted by Master

Steelie did make the right decision he has not got a stop watch up his ass, he does not want the fighter to die on his guard.

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I'm not one to get on someone for stopping a fight, but I have seen people in alot worse situation been waved forward.

Watch the clip Steel asks you want to continue? Taylor looks to his right and Steele asks again real quickly and waves it off in 1 second. Immediately Lampley goes insane ,lol this is one of the strangest calls in boxing. A Don King cash cow undefeated fighter on a historic streak. Everyone knows if that goes to the cards Taylor won easily. Steele didnt ask him to come forward or even put his hands up. Taylor isn't resigned like he knew he couldnt go on, he was upset.

I was watching that fight at a local watering hole when I watched Julio Chavez beat Taylor's body and opened up his mouth. Taylor was swallowing blood for a good while and still being the matador to the Chavez bull. I am not going to attempt to pass judgment because the one and only time I saw this fight I drank enough beer to fill Lake Michigan and I knew Taylor was hurt and I applauded the stoppage but like I said, a couple of cases were consumed and I had no idea there was a light indicating ten seconds but everyone swears Steele saw it. Well reverend or no reverend if he did and I'm not saying he did, the right people should go over it again or just let Taylor live with the L next to that fight. Taylor was never the same caliber fighter after that fight so you be the judge.

It's funny how people try to blame Richard Steele for Meldrick losing when in fact it doesn't even come to that if Taylor's idiot cornerman Lou Duva doesn't tell him he needs to go out and win the 12th round. As for Taylor being 'distracted' by Duva coming into the ring that's laughable. A fighter who's looking around after being decked is a fighter who's out of it. Had Duva not climbed up he would have said he was distracted by a ring card girl or someone walking by the ring. You have no excuse for not answering a ref other than being in la la land. It's not Richard Steele's job to hold a fighter by the hand and walk him to the finish line, it's a fighter's job to finish the fight. Sad as it was it was the right decision. Now Tyson-Ruddock I, that's a different story.

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Originally Posted by match

It's funny how people try to blame Richard Steele for Meldrick losing when in fact it doesn't even come to that if Taylor's idiot cornerman Lou Duva doesn't tell him he needs to go out and win the 12th round. As for Taylor being 'distracted' by Duva coming into the ring that's laughable. A fighter who's looking around after being decked is a fighter who's out of it. Had Duva not climbed up he would have said he was distracted by a ring card girl or someone walking by the ring. You have no excuse for not answering a ref other than being in la la land. It's not Richard Steele's job to hold a fighter by the hand and walk him to the finish line, it's a fighter's job to finish the fight. Sad as it was it was the right decision. Now Tyson-Ruddock I, that's a different story.

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Not that different, just another snap decision by Steele. It's funny though, for a brief moment in that fight Ruddock fell back against the ropes and looked like he closed his eyes as if he was out on his feet. Not sure what that was about, he snapped out of it very quickly, but not quickly enough for Steele I guess.

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Originally Posted by BIG H

I just can't understand people who think that the time is of any relevance. If your reason for thinking he should've been able to continue is because there were only 3 seconds left then you are effectively saying the ref should've helped the fighter, it's no different to saying he should've helped to his feet and held him up :confused:

Taylor was fooked, and with hindsight we know how fooked he was, byt the way he was never the same again. Dr. Flip Homansky, who examined Taylor following the fight and immediately sent him to the hospital, summarized his injuries by saying "Meldrick suffered a facial fracture, he was urinating pure blood, his face was grotesquely swollen... this was a kid who was truly beaten up to the face, the body, and the brain"

If that stoppage was at 1 minute of round 8 and Taylor was already loisng badly, nobody would question the stoppage and that's the whole point, because you cannot use time as an argument, this is why ref's do not have watches.

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Well said. People that blame Steel because he stopped it with 3 seconds left fail to realize that that is a moot point. If there were 10 seconds left, would it be unfair too? How about a minute left? Many people ask where do you draw the line? The answer is you dont. There is no line to draw, and the clock is irrelevant. The timekeeper is responsible for the time, the ref is responsible for the fighters safety. Both did their jobs accordingly.

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Originally Posted by BoomBoom

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Originally Posted by BIG H

I just can't understand people who think that the time is of any relevance. If your reason for thinking he should've been able to continue is because there were only 3 seconds left then you are effectively saying the ref should've helped the fighter, it's no different to saying he should've helped to his feet and held him up :confused:

Taylor was fooked, and with hindsight we know how fooked he was, byt the way he was never the same again. Dr. Flip Homansky, who examined Taylor following the fight and immediately sent him to the hospital, summarized his injuries by saying "Meldrick suffered a facial fracture, he was urinating pure blood, his face was grotesquely swollen... this was a kid who was truly beaten up to the face, the body, and the brain"

If that stoppage was at 1 minute of round 8 and Taylor was already loisng badly, nobody would question the stoppage and that's the whole point, because you cannot use time as an argument, this is why ref's do not have watches.

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Well said. People that blame Steel because he stopped it with 3 seconds left fail to realize that that is a moot point. If there were 10 seconds left, would it be unfair too? How about a minute left? Many people ask where do you draw the line? The answer is you dont. There is no line to draw, and the clock is irrelevant. The timekeeper is responsible for the time, the ref is responsible for the fighters safety. Both did their jobs accordingly.

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You know, I agree with this. But that's not the issue that people are complaining about. At least it's not what the previous three people who posted against Steele in this thread are complaining about.

People complaining about Meldrick being robbed should probably first learn the rules of boxing. Not only is a referee NOT required to grab the wrists of a downed fighter, he's not even required to ask him if he's ok(case in point Jay Nady not being disciplined for waving off Zab in his fight with Kostya). He can stop the fight at any moment. The reason a referee grabs a fighters wrists is to wipe off his gloves on his shirt after they've touched the canvas as to not allow dirt in an opponents eyes. And that's normally only done in the event of slips, flash knockdowns, or knockdowns where the fighter is clearly not hurt and the fight will continue. As for people actually thinking the fight was waved off too quickly, Taylor is lucky he was even given as much of a chance as he was to continue by Steele. A referee doesn't just reach the end of his count and evaluate a fighter's condition. He's evaluating him through the entire count, which is why you can see Steele's eyes wide open lazered in on Taylor's eyes throughout the count. Many hurt fighters do not even get asked if they are ok (Tyson reaching his feet on the count of 9 and the fight being waved off as the ref can see his mouthpiece hanging half out of his mouth against Buster Douglas). Meldrick Taylor got KTFO, deal with it. Next you'll be complaining that Steele didn't wave smelling salts under the guy's nose:rolleyes::rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by USAalltheway

People complaining about Meldrick being robbed should probably first learn the rules of boxing. Not only is a referee NOT required to grab the wrists of a downed fighter, he's not even required to ask him if he's ok(case in point Jay Nady not being disciplined for waving off Zab in his fight with Kostya). He can stop the fight at any moment. The reason a referee grabs a fighters wrists is to wipe off his gloves on his shirt after they've touched the canvas as to not allow dirt in an opponents eyes. And that's normally only done in the event of slips, flash knockdowns, or knockdowns where the fighter is clearly not hurt and the fight will continue. As for people actually thinking the fight was waved off too quickly, Taylor is lucky he was even given as much of a chance as he was to continue by Steele. A referee doesn't just reach the end of his count and evaluate a fighter's condition. He's evaluating him through the entire count, which is why you can see Steele's eyes wide open lazered in on Taylor's eyes throughout the count. Many hurt fighters do not even get asked if they are ok (Tyson reaching his feet on the count of 9 and the fight being waved off as the ref can see his mouthpiece hanging half out of his mouth against Buster Douglas). Meldrick Taylor got KTFO, deal with it. Next you'll be complaining that Steele didn't wave smelling salts under the guy's nose:rolleyes::rolleyes:

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Taylor got screwed. Taylor was the champion. He was winning the fight going into the 12th. Yes he got dropped. Yes he was hurt. But he got up. He didn't stumble or wobble. When asked if he could continue he gave a slight nod yes. Isn't that what your suppose to do when you get knocked down? Yet Steele still waved it off.

He wasn't looking "around" he looked to his corner because Duva was probably flipping out. Its also very loud at that time I think he should have motioned Taylor to walk forward, rather than using audible question do you want to continue. He kind of smothered him as well. Horrible judgement and situational awareness on Steele's part or he had money on Chavez.

Also he got up very early in the count, people dont bounce back up when they are completely out of it.

Another thing that people have to realize is that Steel knows what to look for in a fighters eyes that prompt a decision to stop a fight. Many of us also know some of the signs of a fighter that shouldnt be allowed to continue, but none of us, and no one in that entire building was as close to Taylor physically at that moment as Steele was. He was inches away and obviously made a decision based on what he was observing and his experience. Not the worse stoppage ive ever seen, most unfortunate though. And Chavez inflicted A LOT of damage on him in that fight. He wasnt the same after that fight.

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Originally Posted by No Contest

Also he got up very early in the count, people dont bounce back up when they are completely out of it.

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Zab Judah

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Originally Posted by No Contest

He wasn't looking "around" he looked to his corner because Duva was probably flipping out. Its also very loud at that time I think he should have motioned Taylor to walk forward, rather than using audible question do you want to continue. He kind of smothered him as well. Horrible judgement and situational awareness on Steele's part or he had money on Chavez.

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Agree. Steele was looking for audio confirmation from Taylor. Which was damn near impossible considering Taylor was exhausted. His cheek bone was fractured. And the mouth piece was in his mouth. Taylor slight nod should of been enough acknowledgement for Steele

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Originally Posted by USAalltheway

People complaining about Meldrick being robbed should probably first learn the rules of boxing. Not only is a referee NOT required to grab the wrists of a downed fighter, he's not even required to ask him if he's ok(case in point Jay Nady not being disciplined for waving off Zab in his fight with Kostya). He can stop the fight at any moment. The reason a referee grabs a fighters wrists is to wipe off his gloves on his shirt after they've touched the canvas as to not allow dirt in an opponents eyes. And that's normally only done in the event of slips, flash knockdowns, or knockdowns where the fighter is clearly not hurt and the fight will continue. As for people actually thinking the fight was waved off too quickly, Taylor is lucky he was even given as much of a chance as he was to continue by Steele. A referee doesn't just reach the end of his count and evaluate a fighter's condition. He's evaluating him through the entire count, which is why you can see Steele's eyes wide open lazered in on Taylor's eyes throughout the count. Many hurt fighters do not even get asked if they are ok (Tyson reaching his feet on the count of 9 and the fight being waved off as the ref can see his mouthpiece hanging half out of his mouth against Buster Douglas). Meldrick Taylor got KTFO, deal with it. Next you'll be complaining that Steele didn't wave smelling salts under the guy's nose:rolleyes::rolleyes:

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I can accept most of what you say. The argument about the fight being stopped because Taylor didn't respond to "Are you OK?" just doesn't wash, but if Steele made the call for some other reason like you are suggesting, then there's not too much I can say about that. It still leaves the question why did he bother to ask the question twice then, but I guess that's a different story.

I felt Zab might have been able to go on as well, the count wasn't up very high. I think he waved it off at 5 seconds, he just was to wobbly and as soon as he stumbled Nady started waving it off.Mills didnt wave off Trevor Berbick, Mills Lane let him fall like 3 times before waving it off.;D Its just funny how some refs will let people get battered to hell and some jump in and stop at the drop of a hat. I always thought Nady was a shitty ref btw. Zab did look out of it at first though pointing to Nady like it was his fault :p

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Originally Posted by BoomBoom

Another thing that people have to realize is that Steel knows what to look for in a fighters eyes that prompt a decision to stop a fight. Many of us also know some of the signs of a fighter that shouldnt be allowed to continue, but none of us, and no one in that entire building was as close to Taylor physically at that moment as Steele was. He was inches away and obviously made a decision based on what he was observing and his experience. Not the worse stoppage ive ever seen, most unfortunate though. And Chavez inflicted A LOT of damage on him in that fight. He wasnt the same after that fight.

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That's true. But it doesn't matter. Cuz nobody knew the extent of Taylor injuries till after the fight. So they played no role in Steele's descison to stop it

I agree Nady is a pretty sh@tty ref a lot of the time, but I think that was a good stoppage. I think one more punch, Zab would have left on a stretcher.

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Originally Posted by Violent Demise

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Originally Posted by BoomBoom

Another thing that people have to realize is that Steel knows what to look for in a fighters eyes that prompt a decision to stop a fight. Many of us also know some of the signs of a fighter that shouldnt be allowed to continue, but none of us, and no one in that entire building was as close to Taylor physically at that moment as Steele was. He was inches away and obviously made a decision based on what he was observing and his experience. Not the worse stoppage ive ever seen, most unfortunate though. And Chavez inflicted A LOT of damage on him in that fight. He wasnt the same after that fight.

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That's true. But it doesn't matter. Cuz nobody knew the extent of Taylor injuries till after the fight. So they played no role in Steele's descison to stop it

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Steele sure as hell knew the extent of Meldrick's face, and all that swelling wasn't an allergic reaction to peanuts.