Howard Foster you utter f**kin clown

[TheCobra]

Disgraceful stoppage tonight of Maxwell in with the kid Doran. Maxwell had Doran hurt, Doran came back swinging and hurt Maxwell knocked his head back a couple of times, ref Foster then jumps in before Maxwell even had a chance to hold on or get to the end of the round or even go down maybe and take a count.

Farcical reffing, why are British refs so keen to jump in so quick? it's becoming beyond the joke now for me.

[LeedsLad]

Agreed 100%.

I've been reading ESB and they're all saying the same thing.

Foster is one of the worst for it lately, in an increasing inept group of British officials.

[TheCobra]

End of the day by jumping in he's robbed us of what could have become a really great fight. We won't ever know what could have happened in that next 30 seconds cos the ref had to jump in and steal the show. The fans are the ones being mugged here. Only other conclusion from the fight is that Doran is chinny as hell, Maxwell had him going everytime he landed clean.

[smoothmoves]

it's up for debate about how long refs should wait to step in, but that was ridiculous. considering doran was clearly rocked a couple of times. British refs need to have the book thrown at them, and told this isn't a bloody tickling contest.

[the truth]

Agreed, I think he's one of the worst refs he's shit

[leforge]

I can see this happening to groves tomorrow. Who the ref?

[stevegoodwin]

This does our sport no favours at all. As a promoter it is ahrd enough to get people to come and watch live boxing. Many will argue that the home (money) fighter is being protected. Would it have been stopped that easily if Maxwell had Doran in trouble in the same way?

[WildWaylon]

Its a refs job to protect a fighter but not to wrap them in cotton wool. Actually I like Foster and I think he is a good ref but he is far too keen to stop the action which isnt right. Its a tough game and fighters dont want to be saved by the ref unless they are getting a real good battering and cant respond or hang on. Its all about getting it right, dont stop a fight too quickly or for that matter allow a fighter to be beaten senseless.

[alexpaterson]

To be fair Foster is usually a very good ref! I think he saw the way Maxwell's head spun back and thought he was gone, he made a rash decision that was unfortunately wrong

[hurlock]

one minute fans are saying the ref let it go on too much & then complaining a premature stoppage next :!:

i aint seen the stoppage but refs are up close & can see when a fighter is gone & just because they may start screaming dont mean they are allright.

can i see a link to this anyone?? as i rate howard.

[Asterix]

I can see this happening to groves tomorrow. Who the ref?

Good point. None of the officials are listed on Boxrec yet: http://boxrec.com/show_display.php?show_id=615776

[Final round]

Early stoppages are the bane of boxing whilst late stoppages are the bane of boxers.

[leforge]

I can see this happening to groves tomorrow. Who the ref?

Good point. None of the officials are listed on Boxrec yet: http://boxrec.com/show_display.php?show_id=615776

I hope is not especially as groves shown great recoverability coming back from Anderson knockdowns!

[Realistic]

I can see this happening to groves tomorrow. Who the ref?

Howard Foster for Degale and American Mark Nelson is refereeing the Cleverly fight

[gobbles]

I thought it was a good stoppage. Head seriously rocked back by 3-4 hard shots.

[YOGI BEAR]

one minute fans are saying the ref let it go on too much & then complaining a premature stoppage next :!:

i aint seen the stoppage but refs are up close & can see when a fighter is gone & just because they may start screaming dont mean they are allright.

can i see a link to this anyone?? as i rate howard.

Howard One Of The Best Referees In The World. Refereeing A Thankless Job.

[standing8]

Howard foster is a world class referee

[TheCobra]

I thought it was a good stoppage. Head seriously rocked back by 3-4 hard shots.

Maybe I'm harking back to a previous era, but surely most boxers if stood up would like to be given more of a chance. maxwell is a proper experienced pro and rarely gets stopped.

I've seen Foster jump in too fast on a few occasions. If he is reffing tomorrow night then god help us all when DeGale unleashes a flurry of arm punches.

[curtis wood]

howard foster is a top ref if he jumped in too early it would have been because he thought it was the correct decision ive not seen the stoppage so cant really give my opinion but every time he has reffed any of my fights he seems to let you get on with it and calls it how he sees it im sure max is gutted but to say howard foster is now all of a sudden a rubbish ref is a bit harsh imo

[crusader]

I can't comment on this result, but I thought Foster stopped Degale-Dilks way too early. Hopefully we won't see a similar call tommorow.

[curtis wood]

i agree with that crusader but dilks didnt look too upset

[TheCobra]

I can't comment on this result, but I thought Foster stopped Degale-Dilks way too early. Hopefully we won't see a similar call tommorow.

Agreed, De Gale didn't land anything really massive, was hitting lots of arms and not landing full power blows. Dilks should have been livid.

[hurlock]

dilks admitted he froze. he had his gloves up & eyes closed turning his head...what else is a ref supposed to do

[crusader]

i agree with that crusader but dilks didnt look too upset

Even if Dilks didn't look too upset I don't think that made it a good stoppage. I think a fighter's reaction should only be looked at to a minor extent. We don't usually conclude that a stoppage or decision was poor simply because the fighter on the losing end complained about, and I don't think it should be any different in the converse case where there is no reaction from the fighter.

Dilks was not badly hurt, he was defending himself, and he was not continually taking massive shots that were snapping his head back. It was also just the first round and Dilks had not sustained a long beating prior to the stoppage. It was truly a very bad call in my view.

[jBacca]

i agree with that crusader but dilks didnt look too upset

He's said since he was just overawed and was actually pissed off about it.