howard foster, can I remind you

[MightyWarrior]

Jim Rosentals ringside manner was very annoying. Am I the only one who found the way he talked to Thaxton to be extremely condescending.

x2

Yep x 3

[Spud]

Murray - needs to be stepped up NOW and needs to fight again within 4/5 months.

Completely agreed - it doesnt need to be some soft fight either - throw him in with whatever European class fighter there is - then 2010 should see a world title challenge.

Murray has stagnated in my view and needs to be pushed on.

[hurlock]

x4 abit like yes john you dont understand your time is up let's reflect over your career,the pride that gets put on the line by fighters is immense & jim should reserve judgement at them times rather then try & make thaxton look silly.
also howard foster is by far the best ref in british boxing no questions & is a better judge then most,but it was thaxtons last swansong.

[Autobarn]

He looked very stagnated last night!

I'd love to see him fight Romanov. R is world rated, is known over here, and it would be an awesome fight. I'd love to see this if McAllister gets the European title shot, though I don't believe it would happen without some title on the line.

[steve689]

I've never been a huge fan of Rosenthal but seriously Brendan Ingle needs to tone it down sometimes.

Always remember his rant after the Witter-Harris fight. "Baxing News picked de udder goy."

Err...no they didn't

[Autobarn]

at least he kept it quiet after Johnny Nelson D12 Guillermo Jones and the more apt Johnny Nelson stoppage of Carl Thompson, a man who came back from the brink for a living.

[rf]

too early but i can see why he stopped it

[telboy66]

Murray is good but lets be fair the ref beat Jon not Murray, OK he would probably have won in the end but to stop the fight when he did gave Jon no chance to show what he had left, Jon is a quiet guy that doesn't shout & wave his arms about when a decision goes against him, he just stood there after it was called off by the ref As we saw when Jon won the European against Melero it only take one punch for Jon to turn things around

[Autobarn]

i think murray had him well beaten - utterly outclassed, in fact. it was a sequel to the romanov fight. murray's been after thaxton for ages and it's clear the amount of thought that had gone into this performance.

thaxton has made brilliant comebacks after losing fights, but i can't remmeber him coming back to win a fight in which he was being dominated. i'm not condoning the stoppage - i was ready to watch murray's full arsenal unleashed and was gutted when foster stepped in - but there was only one winner. murray won the battle for positioning very early, had mastered jono, was jolting him...i doubt thaxton was going to get back into it.


good career from thaxton. he has had bad luck and with him being a warrior you can understand him being upset. but if the strategy was to beat murray late - as he said - then his chances would have diminished even further, if the fight could have got that far! jono has had great moments, ppl said he wasn't good enough to win domestic belts but he destroyed paul ryan (british & commonwealth champ) in a non title fight. it was great to see him get the belts - down at lightweight -and as a boxing fan i've been thrilled by several of his fights. top man, brave and articulate, and if this is the end we should all thank him for being such a fierce, fit competitor.

[Spud]

Murray is good but lets be fair the ref beat Jon not Murray,

What a load of rubbish - sorry mate but Murray was well on top - even if the stoppage was premature a tadge it was only a matter of time.

[whicker]

Murray is good but lets be fair the ref beat Jon not Murray,

What a load of rubbish - sorry mate but Murray was well on top - even if the stoppage was premature a tadge it was only a matter of time.

No- I see exactly what he means. If Murray was the one who finished the bout- with a clear finish (combo, knockout etc) as he was 95% likely to do in the next couple of rounds anyway- then Murray would have been the main focus. As it was the ref made the decision that the fighter wasn't fit to carry on rather than allowing Murray a "cleaner" finish.

Perhaps compare to Choi Tsvenpuru V Derry Matthews. Matthews was really hurt in that bout- down several times, and finally counted out fully after a body shot. But the ref gave him every opportunity to box on.

Look at people'sreaction after that- everyone was saying that Choi was amazing.

Murray probably deserves much the same credit- but he isn't getting it, because the ref stopped the fight before he was able to properly "finish" his opponent. (I'm not necesarily saying he SHOULD have been given the chance.) But thats how it went.

Potentially early or "compassionate" stoppages will always take much away from the man who wins.

[tonyevs]

I can fully understand why Jono was upset to be stopped as early as that. He hadn’t been knocked down or seriously hurt. But it did only look a matter of time before Murray stopped him.

What I felt more pissed off about was how rude the commentator was to Jono and the Ingles.

I’d really like to see Thaxton make the Lonsdale belt his own - then retire.
Murray seemed to have the measure of Thaxton, though I`m sure Jono would be capable of making one more notch on the belt against one of this countries leading lightweights to make the belt his own .. If Murray vacates.

[gobbles]

Murray is good but lets be fair the ref beat Jon not Murray,

What a load of rubbish - sorry mate but Murray was well on top - even if the stoppage was premature a tadge it was only a matter of time.

No- I see exactly what he means. If Murray was the one who finished the bout- with a clear finish (combo, knockout etc) as he was 95% likely to do in the next couple of rounds anyway- then Murray would have been the main focus. As it was the ref made the decision that the fighter wasn't fit to carry on rather than allowing Murray a "cleaner" finish.

Perhaps compare to Choi Tsvenpuru V Derry Matthews. Matthews was really hurt in that bout- down several times, and finally counted out fully after a body shot. But the ref gave him every opportunity to box on.

Look at people'sreaction after that- everyone was saying that Choi was amazing.

Murray probably deserves much the same credit- but he isn't getting it, because the ref stopped the fight before he was able to properly "finish" his opponent. (I'm not necesarily saying he SHOULD have been given the chance.) But thats how it went.

Potentially early or "compassionate" stoppages will always take much away from the man who wins.

And look at Derry Mathews since - Just turned 26 and looks washed up.

[steve689]

So what do we make of Murray's chances of progression? I would make him favourite if he fought Mezaache, as seems likely.

[MightyWarrior]

It must be incredibly tough to time a stoppage perfectly every time. I can imagine the responsibility a good ref feels, must weigh heavily as you try to time the intervention to perfection; to time it so you just get there before the final sickening punch lands.
There's no way you'll get it spot on everytime, and Howard's been an excellent ref so far & deserves a break, to be fair

[whiskey]

Not sure but i heard a few scrotes were boo'ing the hell out of Thaxton, trying to barge through security at him as he made his ringwalk.

DISGRACEFUL

[Spud]

Potentially early or "compassionate" stoppages will always take much away from the man who wins.

Hello Whicker!!!,

I am sorry got to disagree - when governing bodies look at records to see where they place a fighter in their ratings is whether he has won and who he has won against - the majority of time the manner of the victory does not matter.

Murray has got the win - he should be delighted and can now move on !!!

As for having a pop at the best referee in this country I cannot figure it out - I will keep saying it - yes it was a tadge early in my view but I remain convinced no one and I mean no one wanted to see Thaxton take un-necessary punishment - he has been a fantastic courageous servant to British Boxing and as such no one wanted to see him bow out in a one sided beating and thats what would have happened if Howard Foster allowed the fight to continue - to be perfectly honest I dont think he would have even got through that round let alone any other.

The result regardless the timing of the stoppage would have been the same.

Murray can move on.

Thaxton has been bloody brilliant for British Boxing.

And - Howard Foster is still the best referee in this country.

[gobbles]

Potentially early or "compassionate" stoppages will always take much away from the man who wins.

Hello Whicker!!!,

I am sorry got to disagree - when governing bodies look at records to see where they place a fighter in their ratings is whether he has won and who he has won against - the majority of time the manner of the victory does not matter.

Murray has got the win - he should be delighted and can now move on !!!

As for having a pop at the best referee in this country I cannot figure it out - I will keep saying it - yes it was a tadge early in my view but I remain convinced no one and I mean no one wanted to see Thaxton take un-necessary punishment - he has been a fantastic courageous servant to British Boxing and as such no one wanted to see him bow out in a one sided beating and thats what would have happened if Howard Foster allowed the fight to continue - to be perfectly honest I dont think he would have even got through that round let alone any other.

The result regardless the timing of the stoppage would have been the same.

Murray can move on.

Thaxton has been bloody brilliant for British Boxing.

And - Howard Foster is still the best referee in this country.

Richie Davies is the best ref in the country

[Spud]

Potentially early or "compassionate" stoppages will always take much away from the man who wins.

Hello Whicker!!!,

I am sorry got to disagree - when governing bodies look at records to see where they place a fighter in their ratings is whether he has won and who he has won against - the majority of time the manner of the victory does not matter.

Murray has got the win - he should be delighted and can now move on !!!

As for having a pop at the best referee in this country I cannot figure it out - I will keep saying it - yes it was a tadge early in my view but I remain convinced no one and I mean no one wanted to see Thaxton take un-necessary punishment - he has been a fantastic courageous servant to British Boxing and as such no one wanted to see him bow out in a one sided beating and thats what would have happened if Howard Foster allowed the fight to continue - to be perfectly honest I dont think he would have even got through that round let alone any other.

The result regardless the timing of the stoppage would have been the same.

Murray can move on.

Thaxton has been bloody brilliant for British Boxing.

And - Howard Foster is still the best referee in this country.

Richie Davies is the best ref in the country

Both Richie and Howard are the best of pals - both are top people - and yep up until a while ago I would have said the same as you.

I honestly think both are very similar - they are no nonsense people when they get in that ring - they command the respect of the fighters and get on with their jobs regardless of who promotional outfit it is and its not often I say that.

I started to take notice of Howard a lot more as a ref when Fight Academy did a show at Dom Valley - Matthew Hatton disqualified Alan Bosworth for consistent low blows - it took b*llocks because the crowd were completely one sided and you had Ricky Hatton and his dad Ray, Dennis Hobson, Billy Graham and the Hatton fans baying for blood everytime Howard took a point off for the low blows - Hatton for me had the fight won all he had to do was survive the remainder even with the deducted points - but another low blow and Howard had a massive choice to make and so he went for the disqualification - that meant he was either bloody stupid for doing it considering the circumstances or he had the courage of his convictions and decided to keep to his principles. He won one hell of a lot of respect from me and quietly a few others too.

Since then always watch him ref the fights and now he is getting bigger fights in other countries and its good to see.

So yep I do rate him above Richie - just - and I wouldnt mind betting Howard in some sort of way moulds himself on his good pal Richie and the way he refs - lets face it Richie has been a good teacher.

[DavidPayne]

5 words.

Carl Thompson v Sebastian Rothmann.

I thought Jon deserved a little longer, not much, but a little.

Howard would have stopped Danny Williams v John McDermott too by the looks of it.

However, for all the 'potential' for a comeback, on the other hand we'll never know when one more shot is the one that makes the difference. Lest we forget Jon takes a shot, has the experience to maul his way through, he could have taken a good shoeing for several more rounds in the manner McCullough did with Scott Harrison. It would have proved only that Thaxton is a tough, gutsy motherfkker - personally Jon, I knew that already.

God bless him and enjoy retirement.

Of course, Thaxton v someone for vacant title is very likely.

Though with Hennessey, patience is a virtue and as such Murray may have another defence yet.

[Wales]

T'was nowhere near as a bad as what Baker was taking against Williams in the final round of their prize fighter contest, not to mention a host of other fights, Jamie Moore in round 3 (was it or 4) against michael Jones. Jamie responds toward the end of the round, but Jones threw a load of unanswered punches.

Nevermind, past tense now. heres hoping murray takes the euro shot, early next year, Jan or Feb?

[jamesmcdonnell]

5 words.

Carl Thompson v Sebastian Rothmann.

I thought Jon deserved a little longer, not much, but a little.

Howard would have stopped Danny Williams v John McDermott too by the looks of it.

However, for all the 'potential' for a comeback, on the other hand we'll never know when one more shot is the one that makes the difference. Lest we forget Jon takes a shot, has the experience to maul his way through, he could have taken a good shoeing for several more rounds in the manner McCullough did with Scott Harrison. It would have proved only that Thaxton is a tough, gutsy motherfkker - personally Jon, I knew that already.

God bless him and enjoy retirement.

Of course, Thaxton v someone for vacant title is very likely.

Though with Hennessey, patience is a virtue and as such Murray may have another defence yet.

My main point is that Thaxton evaded every single one of the follow up shots that Murray Launched, so why intervene? He hadn't taken any additional punishment - and the ref didn't jump in to stop it when he took the initial shot. That doesn't add up.

I know how difficult a job it is, they are there to protect the fighters above all else, and I'm always in favour of stopping it earlier rather than later, but Thaxton wasn't so outclassed that he wasn't still competitive, hadn't been down, and was still protecting himself by ducking and weaving under the shots.

[THEBUTCH]

Good thread. It needed to be said.

It seemed to me Thaxton was written off in most quarters and they couldn't wait to pack him off into retirement.

[dondada]

I know how difficult a job it is, they are there to protect the fighters above all else, and I'm always in favour of stopping it earlier rather than later

I know you follow this with a 'but', Jim, and I understand why but you've sort of made my point for me here.

Most people here seem to think the stoppage was SLIGHTLY premature but that Murray would have stopped him shortly afterwards anyway.

So in terms of controversies, I'd say this was about as low level as it gets - if it is at all. Plenty of knowledgeable lads on here think it was OK. I do understand the Thaxton camp's views but then, they are bound to react that way.

As for Rothmann-Thompson...I was baying for Richie to call that off about a minute before Thompson came up with the bingo punch. That fight was a one-off as far as I'm concerned. I was ringside and asked Richie how close he was to calling that off. He put his fingers together about a hair's breadth apart and said 'That much!' It's no coincidence that it happens to be the big fella's favourite fight!

[Autobarn]

I think Thaxton gave off too much of a "this is the end" vibe before the fight. Had he been talking like this in the days before the fight, and could this have filtered through to the ref, affecting his decision the moment Thaxton was jolted backward as if he'd just had an electric shock? The whole fight, the whole TV production, had the feel of a sentimental send off.

If only Jono had gone down from the shot. He would have had a count, etc. But he - like many Ingle style fighters - has strong, muscular legs and they managed to keep him up.

For all the talk of Carl Thompson, Thompson had been pulverised or outboxed many times and come back to win: Tafer, Rothmann, Dunstan, Haye. But I've not really seen Thaxton get back into a fight, in his memorable career, during a fight he was losing badly. Thaxton comes back well from losses, had staged dramatic comebacks, but given that he was getting outboxed and shaken up, it's doubtful he was going to turn it around. Like I've said, his argment that the plan was to win late sounded unconvinving. If the fight went late, who would have won, but Murray? He was in a great deal of trouble, he appeared to be stopped early, but the stoppage seems to be masking the amount of trouble that Thaxton was in.