Should Joshua have been stopped in the third ?

[snake33]

If it was the other way around and Ruiz was staggering around at the end of the third, would the ref have stopped the fight ?
I think Joshua got a break there..

[HomicideHenry]

He wasn't hurt badly. Not enough anyways to warrant a stoppage. After all you can argue he won or broke even in the 4th & 5th rounds.

[pound per pound]

I thiink so. And his lack of defense and jab would have been less exposed if the ref stopped it in the 3rd.

But it went more rounds and by no means was it just one lucky punch.

[Noxy]

Was it not right at the end of the round, would have been a poor stoppage.

[jamamb]

no, of course not, stop being moaners

[oogiebe]

The ref did a fine job in this fight. No controversy.

[Ilya Muromets]

The ref did a fine job in this fight. No controversy.

I agree.

[SenorPipino]

It wasn't as if Joshua was like Frazier getting bounced up.and down like a ball in just 5 minutes.

Joshua was hurt but it's a hurting business, as Ray Robinson once said.

As long as he was able to defend himself, it was proper to let the fight continue.

[Enlightened-One]

If it was the other way around and Ruiz was staggering around at the end of the third, would the ref have stopped the fight ?
I think Joshua got a break there..

The DAZN commentators felt that had the fight not been for a world title, with AJ being the champion, then the bout would have been stopped.

I’ve seen a lot of fights stopped for less.

And AJ never seemed to recover his senses after his ordeal during the third round.

So in hindsight, perhaps he should have been stopped in the third (based on the outcome of the bout, coupled with the beating he received), but we’d all probably be bitterly complaining about the referee.