Referee Having Sleepless Nights Over Stevenson Outcome

[Ruthless-RKO]

The third man on the ring in Quebec, when Adonis Stevenson was knocked out by Oleksandr Gvozdyk, is very troubled by the aftermath of the contest.

According to referee Michael Griffin, he's has lost fifteen pounds since the night of the December 1. Griffin was back to working last Saturday night in New York City, as the referee for the welterweight bout between Sadam Ali and Mauricio Herrera at Madison Square Garden.

"I wanted to get back to action right away. It's like after an accident, you have to start again as soon as possible," said Griffin to The Montreal Journal.

"I had to watch the fight again at least a hundred times. Everything went so fast. I was dealing with a southpaw against a right-hander and it's harder to always have an open angle to intervene. I can not see how I could have reacted otherwise. I saw that Stevenson could no longer defend himself. But because of the movements of the two boxers and my position, I had to wait a second," said Griffin.

"I lost my appetite, I lost more than 10 pounds. Every night, I wake up at 4 am with the images of the fight in mind."

Griffin is aware that it was not a single punch that caused the injury suffered by Stevenson. Griffin was also on duty in Toronto when Badou Jack nearly knocked out Adonis in the last 30 seconds of their fight earlier this year.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Number of sources saying he's out of the coma.

[claudevsq]

As the coma was medically induced, of course, they had to "take" him out of it again sooner or later! Good news indeed if they are true!

[lazboy]

Goods news he’s out of the comma however there’s unsubstantiated rumour he’s paralysed on the right side.

[hoagylt]

https://112.international/sport/adonis- ... 35243.html

[Duran1970]

"I had to wait a second".....
That's bullshit...you jump in there even if you have to take a punch yourself...seconds are critical...can't be caught out of position especially when a man's hurt..
I'm not really blaming him on this particular instance but he is and has been a bad ref.

[oogiebe]

Really shows the dangers of the fight game. Split seconds mean the world to a hurt fighter. Refs need to make such fast decisions! I feel sorry for the ref in this case. But...the Ref's first responsibility is to keep the fighters safe.

[oogiebe]

Really shows the dangers of the fight game. Split seconds mean the world to a hurt fighter. Refs need to make such fast decisions! I feel sorry for the ref in this case. But...the Ref's first responsibility is to keep the fighters safe.

I've seen more blatant examples of poor refs. The Benny Paret/Emile Griffith fight comes to mind. Horrible example of the ref not doing his job.

[tiny_acres]

Referees are never going to get it right in the eyes of the viewers.
If the fight was stopped 20 seconds earlier would the brain damage have happened? We do not know. It was prolonged damage throughout the fight.
But if the ref stopped it earlier some on here would bitch and moan that he stopped it too soon and ruined the fight.
It's a lose lose proposition to be a ref in the pro game

[oogiebe]

Referees are never going to get it right in the eyes of the viewers.
If the fight was stopped 20 seconds earlier would the brain damage have happened? We do not know. It was prolonged damage throughout the fight.
But if the ref stopped it earlier some on here would bitch and moan that he stopped it too soon and ruined the fight.
It's a lose lose proposition to be a ref in the pro game

Ernie Schaaf died after taking a Carnera Jab...BUT...the real damage was done in his previous fight with Max Baer, who kayoed him completely out seconds before the final bell.

[tiny_acres]

Referees are never going to get it right in the eyes of the viewers.
If the fight was stopped 20 seconds earlier would the brain damage have happened? We do not know. It was prolonged damage throughout the fight.
But if the ref stopped it earlier some on here would bitch and moan that he stopped it too soon and ruined the fight.
It's a lose lose proposition to be a ref in the pro game

Ernie Schaaf died after taking a Carnera Jab...BUT...the real damage was done in his previous fight with Max Baer, who kayoed him completely out seconds before the final bell.

There are numerous examples of life changing injuries that occured earlier than the knock outs.
I don't have answers on how to make the sport safer without taking the excitement out of the game.

[oogiebe]

Referees are never going to get it right in the eyes of the viewers.
If the fight was stopped 20 seconds earlier would the brain damage have happened? We do not know. It was prolonged damage throughout the fight.
But if the ref stopped it earlier some on here would bitch and moan that he stopped it too soon and ruined the fight.
It's a lose lose proposition to be a ref in the pro game

Ernie Schaaf died after taking a Carnera Jab...BUT...the real damage was done in his previous fight with Max Baer, who kayoed him completely out seconds before the final bell.

There are numerous examples of life changing injuries that occured earlier than the knock outs.
I don't have answers on how to make the sport safer without taking the excitement out of the game.

This is why I get so upset when someone calls a fighter a coward. You put your life on the line each and every time you step into the ring.

[Enlightened-One]

Really shows the dangers of the fight game. Split seconds mean the world to a hurt fighter. Refs need to make such fast decisions! I feel sorry for the ref in this case. But...the Ref's first responsibility is to keep the fighters safe.

I agree.

The problem we have relates to the type of so-called “wisdom” casual fight fans are able to boast whenever they’re afforded the benefit of hindsight, because the very same set of people that aggressively bemoan the fact that bouts are usually stopped too soon, also bitterly complain about the refs’ actions when one of the fighters suffers severe brain trauma.

The ref cannot please all people all the time because they must make extremely difficult split-second decisions. This means that they often must choose whether to prioritise on the safety of the fighter being pummelled into submission or to grant them an opportunity to continue, in order avoid a controversy.

The fighters understand and accept the risks whenever they step foot inside the ring, so they are ultimately responsible for the consequences of their own decisions.

[tiny_acres]

Really shows the dangers of the fight game. Split seconds mean the world to a hurt fighter. Refs need to make such fast decisions! I feel sorry for the ref in this case. But...the Ref's first responsibility is to keep the fighters safe.

I agree.

The problem we have relates to the type of so-called “wisdom” casual fight fans are able to boast whenever they’re afforded the benefit of hindsight, because the very same set of people that aggressively bemoan the fact that bouts are usually stopped too soon, also bitterly complain about the refs’ actions when one of the fighters suffers severe brain trauma.

The ref cannot please all people all the time because they must make extremely difficult split-second decisions. This means that they often must choose whether to prioritise on the safety of the fighter being pummelled into submission or to grant them an opportunity to continue, in order avoid a controversy.

Well said. I would never want to be a ref. You are damned if you do and damned if you don't.
A completely thankless job

[gilgamesh]

I don't think the ref is at fault here. Stevenson was rocked pretty bad about 10 seconds before the final punch that put him down, but given that he was leading on the cards (officially at least) and had been Champion for so long I'm sure there would've been cries from his corner that the stoppage was too soon if the referee had jumped in even 5 or 10 seconds earlier. The damage may have already been done by then anyway who knows.

I don't think the referee is really to blame here. Sometimes these things just happen.

I hope the rumors that Adonis is coming to are true, and I hope whatever problems he'll have upon waking aren't permanent.

[oogiebe]

Really shows the dangers of the fight game. Split seconds mean the world to a hurt fighter. Refs need to make such fast decisions! I feel sorry for the ref in this case. But...the Ref's first responsibility is to keep the fighters safe.

I agree.

The problem we have relates to the type of so-called “wisdom” casual fight fans are able to boast whenever they’re afforded the benefit of hindsight, because the very same set of people that aggressively bemoan the fact that bouts are usually stopped too soon, also bitterly complain about the refs’ actions when one of the fighters suffers severe brain trauma.

The ref cannot please all people all the time because they must make extremely difficult split-second decisions. This means that they often must choose whether to prioritise on the safety of the fighter being pummelled into submission or to grant them an opportunity to continue, in order avoid a controversy.

The fighters understand and accept the risks whenever they step foot inside the ring, so they are ultimately responsible for the consequences of their own decisions.

Let's not forget that the boxers' seconds are also responsible for the fighters' safety. I didn't see anyone climbing the ring at the end there. It's not just the ref's responsibility. There are seconds, and doctors at ringside as well.

[oogiebe]

I don't think the ref is at fault here. Stevenson was rocked pretty bad about 10 seconds before the final punch that put him down, but given that he was leading on the cards (officially at least) and had been Champion for so long I'm sure there would've been cries from his corner that the stoppage was too soon if the referee had jumped in even 5 or 10 seconds earlier. The damage may have already been done by then anyway who knows.

I don't think the referee is really to blame here. Sometimes these things just happen.

I hope the rumors that Adonis is coming to are true, and I hope whatever problems he'll have upon waking aren't permanent.

It wasn't as though Stevenson was being battered throughout the fight. It's a lose lose for the ref, who is not solely responsible for the fighter's safety. Seconds and ring doctors have responsibility too.

[gilgamesh]

I don't think the ref is at fault here. Stevenson was rocked pretty bad about 10 seconds before the final punch that put him down, but given that he was leading on the cards (officially at least) and had been Champion for so long I'm sure there would've been cries from his corner that the stoppage was too soon if the referee had jumped in even 5 or 10 seconds earlier. The damage may have already been done by then anyway who knows.

I don't think the referee is really to blame here. Sometimes these things just happen.

I hope the rumors that Adonis is coming to are true, and I hope whatever problems he'll have upon waking aren't permanent.

It wasn't as though Stevenson was being battered throughout the fight. It's a lose lose for the ref, who is not solely responsible for the fighter's safety. Seconds and ring doctors have responsibility too.

I honestly don't think anybody is to blame here. It all happened rather quickly, and it was one of those cases where nobody could've predicted that this kinda damage was being done.

There are cases where you can definitely see it undoubtedly should've been stopped sooner because it was such a one sided contest like Leavander Johnson vs Jesus Chavez for instance, but in this case it was pretty competitive up until the end, and Stevenson had even hurt Gvozdyk in the previous round right? So it's not like he was just taking a beating all night, it just happened so quick nobody could've anticipated that it would've ended like this for Adonis.

I can see why it would trouble the referee, it would trouble me deeply if I officiated a bout, and it had that kind of outcome for one of the participants, but I really don't think it's his fault or anybody else's. It's just one of those freak things that can sometimes happen in this sport.

[oogiebe]

I don't think the ref is at fault here. Stevenson was rocked pretty bad about 10 seconds before the final punch that put him down, but given that he was leading on the cards (officially at least) and had been Champion for so long I'm sure there would've been cries from his corner that the stoppage was too soon if the referee had jumped in even 5 or 10 seconds earlier. The damage may have already been done by then anyway who knows.

I don't think the referee is really to blame here. Sometimes these things just happen.

I hope the rumors that Adonis is coming to are true, and I hope whatever problems he'll have upon waking aren't permanent.

It wasn't as though Stevenson was being battered throughout the fight. It's a lose lose for the ref, who is not solely responsible for the fighter's safety. Seconds and ring doctors have responsibility too.

I honestly don't think anybody is to blame here. It all happened rather quickly, and it was one of those cases where nobody could've predicted that this kinda damage was being done.

There are cases where you can definitely see it undoubtedly should've been stopped sooner because it was such a one sided contest like Leavander Johnson vs Jesus Chavez for instance, but in this case it was pretty competitive up until the end, and Stevenson had even hurt Gvozdyk in the previous round right? So it's not like he was just taking a beating all night, it just happened so quick nobody could've anticipated that it would've ended like this for Adonis.

I can see why it would trouble the referee, it would trouble me deeply if I officiated a bout, and it had that kind of outcome for one of the participants, but I really don't think it's his fault or anybody else's. It's just one of those freak things that can sometimes happen in this sport.

In this case it was sudden. Horrible example of really abysmal refereeing was Griffith/Paret. Griffith unceasingly pummeled an out cold Benny in the corner. Horrific.

[gilgamesh]

It wasn't as though Stevenson was being battered throughout the fight. It's a lose lose for the ref, who is not solely responsible for the fighter's safety. Seconds and ring doctors have responsibility too.

I honestly don't think anybody is to blame here. It all happened rather quickly, and it was one of those cases where nobody could've predicted that this kinda damage was being done.

There are cases where you can definitely see it undoubtedly should've been stopped sooner because it was such a one sided contest like Leavander Johnson vs Jesus Chavez for instance, but in this case it was pretty competitive up until the end, and Stevenson had even hurt Gvozdyk in the previous round right? So it's not like he was just taking a beating all night, it just happened so quick nobody could've anticipated that it would've ended like this for Adonis.

I can see why it would trouble the referee, it would trouble me deeply if I officiated a bout, and it had that kind of outcome for one of the participants, but I really don't think it's his fault or anybody else's. It's just one of those freak things that can sometimes happen in this sport.

In this case it was sudden. Horrible example of really abysmal refereeing was Griffith/Paret. Griffith unceasingly pummeled an out cold Benny in the corner. Horrific.

Yeah that was just straight up criminal. Paret is absolutely defenseless for the last 10 or possibly 15 blows of that fight, and it truly makes you cringe to watch.

[gilgamesh]

Another fight where I got that sickening feeling that something bad was going to happen...it didn't thankfully was Shannon Briggs vs Vitali Klitschko. From about the 7th or 8th round of that I was thinking "This is unnecessary, he has no chance. Get him outta there"

And not surprisingly he did wind up spending weeks in the Emergency Room after the bout. Thankfully no permanent damage was done, but it felt like THAT kinda beating when you were watching it.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Another fight where I got that sickening feeling that something bad was going to happen...it didn't thankfully was Shannon Briggs vs Vitali Klitschko. From about the 7th or 8th round of that I was thinking "This is unnecessary, he has no chance. Get him outta there"

And not surprisingly he did wind up spending weeks in the Emergency Room after the bout. Thankfully no permanent damage was done, but it felt like THAT kinda beating when you were watching it.

Yeh. I seen a pic. Facial fracture and everything.

[oogiebe]

Another fight where I got that sickening feeling that something bad was going to happen...it didn't thankfully was Shannon Briggs vs Vitali Klitschko. From about the 7th or 8th round of that I was thinking "This is unnecessary, he has no chance. Get him outta there"

And not surprisingly he did wind up spending weeks in the Emergency Room after the bout. Thankfully no permanent damage was done, but it felt like THAT kinda beating when you were watching it.

Yeh. I seen a pic. Facial fracture and everything.

While we're at it, Mercer/Morrison. I was up on my feet screaming at the tv, Stop it, stop it, oh my God STOP IT!

[ezhmael]

No one should be blame on this. Stevenson was okay until the KO. If there's someone who should take the blame it should be his corner since he speaks to them directly regarding his conditions.

[oogiebe]

No one should be blame on this. Stevenson was okay until the KO. If there's someone who should take the blame it should be his corner since he speaks to them directly regarding his conditions.

You are correct!