~ A Message to Referee Marlon B. Wright ~ (Ref. for Andrade-Bute)

[CFH]

I'm pretty certain you're right mate. He beat the count which means he finished the fight. There's nothing about having to walk forward.

Imagine the uproar if a ref stopped a fighter on his feet AFTER the fight had finished

That would have been a travesty IMO.

I do certainly agree with those who criticism the ref, and while Andrade did get away with a few fouls, Bute was allowed to hold, grab Andrade's legs etc. all fight long. That, combined with the disputed finale to the fight, is enough for me to think a rematch is justified.

I think the rule makes sense.

I didn't think Bute was in a fit state to continue (maybe could have been stopped before the knockdown). But you can't deem a fighter unfit to fight AFTER a contest has ended.

The ref was poor. Andrade was unlucky.

Again, we are in complete agreement. If there was even ten seconds left in the fight, then stop it, but the bell had rang and the fight had ended when Bute made it to his feet and his gloves had cleared the canvas.

I think with a different ref there may well have been a different outcome as Bute would not have been allowed to hold/foul all night, but I think the decision as the end of the fight not to call a TKO on Bute was completely correct.

I want to see a rematch so we can put all these questions to bed.