Iron Mike vs Truth Williams: Did the Referee Stopped the Fight Too Soon?

[elmersalsa]

When the great "Iron" Mike Tyson made his last successful defense against Carl "The Truth" Williams in 1989, many people complained that the referee Randy Neumann stopped the fight too soon. It was a beautiful left hook to the jaw by Tyson and The Truth and his 218lbs of pure muscle went down backwards. But, he got up and the referee asked him if he was okay, but it seemed that Carl didn't answer. And then, when the ref halted the match, Williams started to protest. The fight only lasted 93 seconds.

I got 3 questions:

Is this similar to what happened to the great Jersey Joe Walcott in his second fight with the great Rocky Marciano?

Was the referee wrong to stop it that quick?

According to Tyson, he said that if the fight continued, the Truth would have been finished right then. What's your opinion on the stoppage? Was Williams, at 6'4" and 218lbs, good enough to survive?

What's your thoughts on this?

[dr_devious]

No

[Controversial]

I won money on that being a one round win. He went down pretty hard but could he have carried on? Yes probably but I think Tyson would have been all over him, still a long way to go in the round.

[elmersalsa]

No

Do you still believe that Carl "The Truth" Williams would have survived Iron Mike's barrage after the knockdown?

[dr_devious]

From memory I think correct to call the fight off Elmer

[Noxy]

It wasn’t too soon.

[evrenb]

It was one of those where if the referee let it continue you wouldn't have argued...if he stopped it you wouldn't really argue (although the Williams team did). Either way the results the same : KO 1!

[overhand_right]

It was certainly perceived as a quick stoppage at the time, and I still see it that way. I doubt Williams would have actually survived the round, but I don't know that for sure. He should have been given the chance.

[Controversial]

I love the sound of that hook hitting Williams though, a real thud.

[Onetimeonly]

I don't think it was quick, people just wanted a competitive fight and Carl's reach and jab gave some hope. I don't think Marciano was stopped too soon either and I agree with Mike, he would have finished him. That was a nasty hook. Not like Stewart or seldom who fell down out of fear.

[wouter]

It was almost unanimously regarded as a quick stoppage at the time and a multiple page article by Randy Neuman was published afterwards in Ring or KO Magazine where he gave his reasons for stopping the fight.

[Nile4000]

I think do, but the inevitable would have happened 2 to 3 rounds later, so Randy probably did Carl a solid. If Williams had a chin, who knows.

[littlepug]

It seemed a tad quick at the time but Williams wasn’t assertive enough in showing his willingness to carry on and to be fair to the ref he can see a lot in the fighters face that we can’t from the tv

[fanman]

classic tyson performance, what a menace!

williams did well to beat the count, but when asked if he wanted to continue, gave a shook up look & blinked. a clear signal he did not want to continue.
he would have been a lamb to the slaughter at that point.

[cormack]

yes I wud have enjoyed tyson pounding him to the canvas for not fighting back and just running away

[sweetsci]

I think it was stopped too early. A shot at the title - the real, genuine, undisputed heavyweight championship, no less - doesn't come easily (generally speaking) and Carl should have been given every opportunity to recover and continue. I wouldn't want to see him get permanently hurt or anything from a late stoppage, but this went too far the other way.

Yeah, Tyson would probably have stopped Williams anyway between a few seconds to a few rounds later, but Carl had the tools (though not the chin) to give Tyson a tough time. He should have been given more of a chance.

[Ambling Alp II]

I agree. He went down hard, but seemed OK when he got up. He almost for sure would have lost, but should have got the chance to continue.