Should the ref have stopped Fury in the 9th?

[jamesmcdonnell]

I'm unsure. I haven't replayed it, but it looked to me that Fury was using the ropes to keep himself up, rather than the ropes keeping him up, if you know what I mean.

I'd've stopped it. Fury wasn't in a position to defend himself and needed an intervention to save him.

Either way, it's a judgement call by the ref and I think he handled it reasonable well.

Had it have been stopped, there would have been uproar.

Had there been another 20 seconds in the round, I am certain the ref would have jumped in pretty qjuickly, there's no chance Tyson would have survived another onslaught, he was totally kippered.

[578222]

"And remember, defend yourself at all times".

This is the referees instructions to all fighters before any fight. Doesn't matter wether its a title fight or 2 kids in a gym.

Fury clearly was in no position to defend himself for a fair few seconds and he got lucky that Usyk missed him with a haymaker when he fell back onto the ropes. Not only was it a stoppage, it was shocking refereeing from a supposedly top class referee and would not have happened in "lesser" fights.

[big lennox]

The referee should have stopped it. He has a duty to protect hurt fighters, and Fury was very badly hurt.

[mike john]

its a contentious issue. the rule applied literally, you could argue that the ref should have given a count even earlier than he did, with fury pinballing off the ropes as he was. when fury fell into the corner turnbuckle, he was already sliding along the ropes, using them to support his weight, you see this all the time, and again, applying the rule literally, how many boxers, stopped on their feet, could a referee have "saved" by giving a count because they were taking a beating whilst leaning on the ropes? would they have gone down if the ropes werent there? i can think of many examples where this might be the case. i think the ref made the wrong call, but i also dont blame him, i think he applied the rules fairly, as he saw fit, which is fair enough. as someone else stated, it would have been a travesty if fury went on to win, but, thankfully, the right man had his glove raised at the end.

[Delta Jay]

The ref has to stop the fight when he considers a fighter to be unable to defend themselves any longer, right?

At what point does knowledge of the fighter’s previous performances come in to it?

Any other fighter in the world would’ve been ragged right out by any other ref in that moment.

True say tho, fury came back and looked great quickly after

[jamesmcdonnell]

The referee should have stopped it. He has a duty to protect hurt fighters, and Fury was very badly hurt.

Which is why he effectively called a knockdown, and gave him a count.

[jamesmcdonnell]

its a contentious issue. the rule applied literally, you could argue that the ref should have given a count even earlier than he did, with fury pinballing off the ropes as he was. when fury fell into the corner turnbuckle, he was already sliding along the ropes, using them to support his weight, you see this all the time, and again, applying the rule literally, how many boxers, stopped on their feet, could a referee have "saved" by giving a count because they were taking a beating whilst leaning on the ropes? would they have gone down if the ropes werent there? i can think of many examples where this might be the case. i think the ref made the wrong call, but i also dont blame him, i think he applied the rules fairly, as he saw fit, which is fair enough. as someone else stated, it would have been a travesty if fury went on to win, but, thankfully, the right man had his glove raised at the end.

Yes, I argued the same, but as I said, it was all happening so quickly.

Had he called it earlier, Fury would have had more time to recover, because he would have been given a count before Usyk had landed several hurtful follow ups.

Fury definitely 'fell' the last time, whereas the others he was sliding along and bouncing off the ropes.

I am glad it wasn't stopped, and I am glad none of it had any outcome on the result more to the point.

[polecateddy]

Definitely yes. Looking at the replays today Fury looked like he was having an out of body experience. Fair play for going the distance after that round!

[big lennox]

The referee should have stopped it. He has a duty to protect hurt fighters, and Fury was very badly hurt.

Which is why he effectively called a knockdown, and gave him a count.

I think he should have stopped the fight rather than an issue an incredibly long count. I was really worried about Tyson's health at that point.

[forcefraser]

I'll give credit to Fury for showing some real grit in the 9th, but I so badly wanted Usyk to knock him spark out. You could see he he really wanted the stoppage.

Who can blame him, the abuse he's taken off Fury was beyond just banter.

Usyk simply comes across as a better human being than Fury

[Ezzard]

Ref got it right.

[ALI]

The referee should have stopped it. He has a duty to protect hurt fighters, and Fury was very badly hurt.

He did protect him, gave him a standing 8 count and a chance to recover, and Fury did recover.

Great work by the ref.

[jamesmcdonnell]

I'll give credit to Fury for showing some real grit in the 9th, but I so badly wanted Usyk to knock him spark out. You could see he he really wanted the stoppage.

Who can blame him, the abuse he's taken off Fury was beyond just banter.

Usyk simply comes across as a better human being than Fury

Absolutely. Fury is an ignoramus. Usyk is pure class.

[paultom]

You can bet your life if it was Usyk on the ropes it would have been stopped

[578222]

The referee should have stopped it. He has a duty to protect hurt fighters, and Fury was very badly hurt.

Which is why he effectively called a knockdown, and gave him a count.

He should have stopped it before he got anywhere near that corner when the count was given. He was clearly out of it a fair bit before that. Hands down, stumbling backwards and in no condition to defend himself. Around the 10 second mark in this video.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1791973279273517214

[jtourettes]

Was a stoppage all day long for me. If it had been usyk, the fight 100% would’ve been stopped. The ropes stopped fury from falling over at least 3 times before the ref called it too so I don’t think that’s a legit excuse. Usyk was too nice also, that last one he had semi loaded before the ref finally jumped in might’ve finished matters if he’d let it go

Edit: the non stoppage also cost me 540 quid in winnings so that might colour my perception somewhat

[Dioufy]

i think he handled it right, despite all the complaints that he saved fury by giving a count and not letting usyk continue at him

it IS a thing for ref's to call KDs when they think the ropes held a fighter up. done many times before. i dont know why some people act as if the ref invented something new. and the ropes clearly held fury up. he was obviously badly hurt prior to that, but not to a level where i wouldve stopped it.

Fury was hurt but not as hurt as what the monster Wallin did to him.

[Ricky]

He was also in no position to continue even after the count. Fury got a standing 8 AND was saved by the bell, neither should be permitted in the rules.

I am afraid though they are in the rules.

The round ended, when that happens, a fighter is allowed to return to their corner. Are you suggesting the ref should have stopped it in the corner?
I don't really understand why people have a problem with it.

No, he was unfit to box on but the ref knew the bell was sounding.

A helping hand.

[Finkel]

The referee was a bit all over the place in the entire sequence.

I thought a KD was going to be called when Fury first reeled into the ropes. Then when he careened across the other ropes I also expected it. It took for him to be slouched in the corner for the referee to finally make the correct call.

The trouble was while this was going on the referee was trying to insert himself into the action, first it looked like he wanted to call a break and reset the fighters. Then, Usyk almost shoved the ref out of the way when he tried to get between them the second time.

Then throw in the slow count and I think Fury being stopped was not on the Saudi agenda for the night...

[stujones]

I think because of Wilder 1 the ref kept it going, glad he did as the right man won with no hint of controversy. The only controversy is that it will go down as another “close” Usyk heavyweight fight, when in reality over 36 minutes he’s never looked close to losing

[DrDuke]

Why? Fury was shaken, but not out. Ropes saved him from falling, which is a legit KD, but he recovered fast.

F*ck frequent early stoppages of nowadays.

[Twinkle Toes]

Without the ropes Fury was on his arse. No one can deny that. Ref had to do something, he did, but he was very messy with it all.

[Bigdogsnose]

Question is, if he hit the deck, not the ropes woukd he have beat the count. Hard one, he looked out of it but he has previous.

[paultom]

Question is, if he hit the deck, not the ropes woukd he have beat the count. Hard one, he looked out of it but he has previous.

When Fury has been down before,he has got up and not shown any signs of wobbly legs,last night though he could barely stand up,I think he would have been stopped.

[cormack]

in a way yes he could have / maybe should have but imagine the outcry from furys & warrens .
we had it all for weeks after the dubois low blow .