BoxRec

An absolute joke of a ref

Doesn't even pretend to be on the level anymore - mind you, he is not on his own.

Carrying Cleverly back to his corner after failing to stop it in the 3rd is a new low for a man already well versed in the art of degradation limbo.

deadpan wrote:Carrying Cleverly back to his corner after failing to stop it in the 3rd is a new low for a man already well versed in the art of degradation limbo.

he did stop it and then changed his mind when he heard the bell

Punchy Joe wrote:he did stop it and then changed his mind when he heard the bell

Basically it.

Actual news report:

In a much anticipated clash between unbeaten light heavyweights, power-punching KO artist Sergey Kovalev (22-0-1, 20 KOs) demolished and dethroned WBO champion Nathan Cleverly (26-1, 12 KOs) on Saturday night at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales. Kovalev was the aggressor, but was cut over the right eye in round two. Kovalev dropped Cleverly twice with hard shots in round three and referee Terry O’Connor carried Cleverly to his corner at the bell. Kovalev dropped Cleverly again in round four and the bout was waved off at :21.

Yep, he stopped the fight, heard the bell so he carried Nathan back to his stool .

The guy has been a disgrace to the sport for years.

Fat Git wrote:Doesn't even pretend to be on the level anymore - mind you, he is not on his own.

Ian John Lewis is the only other one who I can think of who is quite as bad as him on the british scene! There's a fair few pretty bad ones though I think! Who was it that reffed the Macc vs Mckenzie fight again? He did a top job!

MachoMan09 wrote:Terry did a perfect job tonight.

I sense and I hope that is sarcasm

columbo wrote:

Fat Git wrote:Doesn't even pretend to be on the level anymore - mind you, he is not on his own.

Ian John Lewis is the only other one who I can think of who is quite as bad as him on the british scene! There's a fair few pretty bad ones though I think! Who was it that reffed the Macc vs Mckenzie fight again? He did a top job!

First fight was unsurprisingly Ian John-Lewis with one of the worst stoppages I've seen, the one tonight was Phil Edwards, who many people slated after the Chisora-Scott fight.

TOC is a disgrace. I fail to understand how he keeps his job. Bleh, whatever. Nothing more to add.

expe wrote:

columbo wrote:

Fat Git wrote:Doesn't even pretend to be on the level anymore - mind you, he is not on his own.

Ian John Lewis is the only other one who I can think of who is quite as bad as him on the british scene! There's a fair few pretty bad ones though I think! Who was it that reffed the Macc vs Mckenzie fight again? He did a top job!

First fight was unsurprisingly Ian John-Lewis with one of the worst stoppages I've seen, the one tonight was Phil Edwards, who many people slated after the Chisora-Scott fight.

I thought Edwards did a good job tonight to be fair!

MachoMan09 wrote:Terry did a perfect job tonight.

good odds on the 4th macho ?

MachoMan09 wrote:

80/20 wrote:

MachoMan09 wrote:Terry did a perfect job tonight.

good odds on the 4th macho ?

Good enough but I covered five and six aswell which tainted the taste.

I think terry may have done 3,4th himself

So what are the chances of EL TEL's performance being reviewed by the BBB of C here, or whatever the process is?

Surely this gross incompetence cannot slip through the net yet again? Does an outclassed home fighter have to die before they question this O'Connor's abilities as a third man? What has to happen before he comes under the proper scrutiny? What?

Disgraceful and should surely be considered as bringing british boxing into disrepute as this was shown around the world.

Even worse, clev was in bad shape and could have been hurt.

Utter joke. Blatantly carried him to the corner. Cleverly corner need a talking to as well.

awful piece of officialdom, carrying a fighter to his corner as he is the home fighter, was TOC worried his hotel bill would not be paid if he dethroned cleverly. I bet there are a few pies on the bill.

Just watched the fight again (without drinking 2 bottles of wine and a load of vodka) and have to say I may have overreacted. Whilst he could and probably should have stopped the fight, he only stepped between them after the bell. He gave the 'champ' a chance to recover. The corner let him down and their advice was shite

I rate Jeff Hinds as a top ref. Why don't they start giving him British Title fights? Maybe because he is impartial.

Cleverly was punched when he was on the floor. Clear case for disqualification, he may have been able to recover were it not for two hard punches while both of his hands were on the floor. Never mind controversy around when the fight should have been stopped, according to the rules Cleverly should clearly have won.

revporl wrote:Cleverly was punched when he was on the floor. Clear case for disqualification, he may have been able to recover were it not for two hard punches while both of his hands were on the floor. Never mind controversy around when the fight should have been stopped, according to the rules Cleverly should clearly have won.

I wouldn't say DQ but a point should have come off, Cleverly went down and Kovalev cracked him a couple when it was easy to see he was down.

Im not a fan of criticising refs , i realise they do a thankless job that they can rarely come out of with any praise , but.... in this instance the ref was clearly waving the fight off at the end of round 3 , they are under pressure though and im sure sometimes its easier to back the guy paying your wages that night , although in this particular case the ref did himself no favours , if cleverly had gone on to win im sure Kovalevs team would have been furious

Watched the fight again, seems that he was going to wave it off THEN the bell went.
He did no actually wave it off, he was 'about to'. TOC has had some shockers, but last night is nowhere near as bad as it seemed at the time.