Should Watson's corner have pulled him out?

I just watched the Eubank Watson fight and for me there was no way Watson's corner should have let him go out for the last round. He had none of his senses and could barely walk. I think that the needless punishment he took in the last round was the thing that really did him damage.

I know it's easy to say in hindsight but if you seen a fighter like that there is no way you could let him box on.

What do you guys think? Was this preventable by the corner stepping in or would you have allowed him to go out?

Absolutely Pedro. Watched that fight a few times ('Cos although the tragic ending it is just bloody brilliant) and the more I see it the more painstakingly obvious the corner shoudl ahve pulled him out. He was standing there barely able to lift his arms, didn't have a clue what was going on after the uppercut landed. No idea how he stood up after it actually.

Damage was already done........

Don't think the corner has anything to batter itself with. Watson was ahead there was one round to go....Huge fight.....future earning potential and career prospects at stake.....and they always had the towel to chuck in....

Two losses to Eubank and where does he go???...If they knew how hurt he was they wouldn't have let him carry on...

Watson doesn't hold it against them and neither should we.....

S**T happens and what a 5 star guy Watson is..

I don't think S**T happens is really right to be correct. We rip into refs for fights not being stopped and letting fighters take punishment. I think that to say that money should influence the decision you make on a fighters well being is nonsensical.

But yes, Watson is a a top guy there is no doubt about that. An inspirational man in and out of the ring.

S**t happens is correct........

By the time he sits down and they are in position they have about 40 seconds to assess the situation.......give advice...........check his condition..

Yes Boxing is someone's career.......They pull him out and two losses to Eubank.......a defeat to Mccallum leaves his future in tatters...

They knew there was one round to go...maybe he blags it and becomes champ..

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Damage was already done........

Don't think the corner has anything to batter itself with. Watson was ahead there was one round to go....Huge fight.....future earning potential and career prospects at stake.....and they always had the towel to chuck in....

Two losses to Eubank and where does he go???...If they knew how hurt he was they wouldn't have let him carry on...

Watson doesn't hold it against them and neither should we.....

S**T happens and what a 5 star guy Watson is..

there's no doubting thats all true, but the corner still shouldn't have let him go back out in that state.

I think you sum it up when you say his future in tatters and that's exactly what their decision or lack of decision did.

The referee could have stopped it too...

They did what they thought best for him and his future.....

Thought like fighters of the past he might spoil till his head cleared...

Too simplistic.........

Pedro147 wrote:I think you sum it up when you say his future in tatters and that's exactly what their decision or lack of decision did.

You're saying they were incompetent ??????????

Incompetent no but made a poor decision and in my opinion an error in allowing him to go back out.

So BBBofC gets a free pass? Undoubtely, his camp could have done a little more, but their fighter was close to an upset.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and always tends to be 20-20. However as Truss has alluded to in real terms they had about 40 seconds to get a handle on how serious his situation was and to do this in the heat of battle in the noise and atmosphere of a big fight all in the knowledge that if Watson made it to the final bell he won the fight. Whilst pulling him out may potentially have helped his situation I can forgive them not making such a decision in such heightened circumstances.

I was at the fight. No-one should fault the corner. Mike was miles ahead and all he had to do was survive the last 3 minutes and he would have won. Who was to know what was going on? The corner do not have xray vision to detect bleeding in the brain. They probably thought, as did most people there, that Mike would ride out the next minute and get his senses back and win.

In all honesty, most people at WHL thought the ref stopped the fight too early. Myself included. We were all caught up in the blood lust.

Who could have known. One thing though, had the ref given Eubank a standing 8, the bell would have rung ending the 11th round and that punch wouldn't have been thrown..

I don't think they should have pulled him out.

Like Rowley said, hindsight is a wonderful thing. There are dozens of fights every year (that are just on TV) where a fighter absorbs enormous punishment but have no long-lasting effects and though accidents in boxing horrfific, they are extremely rare.

If Gatti had been hurt badly following Rd 9 against Gatti, the ref and Gatti's corner would have got a grilling but nothing happened.

Not many corners would stop a fight when their guy is 3 minutes from the biggest win of their career.

Its funny how people have been criticising Gonzalez in the Bruns fight for pulling him out.

Although it was a claim of wrist problems, he was out on his feet pretty much.

Should we credit his corner?

His corner wanted him to continue I believe. Gonzo made the decision himself.

Can't compare Watson-Eubank with something like Davey Moore-Duran......

That was downright neglect.........

Should have been able to sue his corner and that sham of a referee.........

Poor old Davey..never did have any luck!!!!!!!

Pedro, why do you think it was the punishment he took in the last round rather than the uppercut and whiplash (his neck hit the bottom rope on the way down) that caused the damage? I haven't watched the fight for a long time but I don't really recall Watson taking excessive puinshment in the 12th- the bell rang Eubank advanced and he backed into the ropes with his hands held up high in a defensive shell- none of Eubanks punches seemed to really snap his head back, and the ref stopped it as soon as it was clear that Watson wasn't going to fight back.
Don't really think that the ref or corner did anything wrong with the context of what is accepted risk in professional fighting.
No way nearly as contraversial as Benn - McClellan, in which I think there was a cased to be answered by both ref and corner, but we have debated that subject so many times that there not much to add that hasn't already been said, repeatedly.