Was Richard Steele correct to stop the Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Meldrick Taylor championship fight?

Question

Taylor and Chavez were undefeated at this 1990 Jr. Welterweight world championship fight. Taylor had dominated with speed for most of the fight and was ahead on points. Chavez's relentless power punching eventually wore on Taylor, however, and Chavez rocked him with a right to the chin with 25 seconds left in the 12th round. Chavez landed a left hook to the liver as Taylor stumbled to the corner, and with 12 seconds left landed a clean straight right to the chin that caused Taylor to crumble to the canvas. After getting up during the count, Taylor did not respond to Steele's twice asking him if he was alright. Steele stopped the fight with two seconds left, giving Chavez the TKO victory. Taylor had suffered a facial fracture and was urinating blood before being sent to the hospital after the fight.

Answer 1

when steele stopped the fight, there were about 5 seconds left on the clock, but when the bell actually rang to indicate the end of the fight of the decade, the clock showed 2 seconds left.

lets tale a close look at taylor's injuries.

2 swollen eyes

bad cuts inside his mouth

swallowed 2 pints of blood

fractured cheekbone.

if the bout had gone on, with 5 seconds left on the clock jc could've and would've landed one more potentially dangerous right hand (he didn't, but look at taylor today anyway)!!!

richard steele was right to stop it and nothing will change my mind about that.

Answer 2

Yes.

Richard Steele is one of the best in the business.

Answer 3

No he should not have stopped the fight , you dont stop a championship fight like that with 2 seconds left the damage was already done to taylor , he was never the same after that fight . At least could have let the man finish with some dignity that stoppage made the beating taylor took even worse mentaly. From my understanding taylor was ahead on points in that fight and without the stoppage he would have won. Regardless 2 seconds left, last round, championship fight , both fighters undefeated , you dont stop it with 2 seconds left. I can understand if there was a little more time left. It was a great fight though.

Answer 4

Michael G. 2 seconds or not the correct call was made . It could have been stopped sooner . He couldn't protect himself at all . What if that one last punch would have caught his temple area ? Everyone can see the clock and know how much time is left . The guys in the ring don't . So that's something you have to realize

Answer 5

yes

Answer 6

the referee was correct.

he did his job.

he is not the timekeeper

Answer 7

I don't blame Steele for stopping the fight. I was dissapointed for Taylor, but the bottom line was, he didn't respond to the ref's question. Although I do think he was able to respond, if you watch the film, his trainer Lou Duva jumped up onto the apron of the ring and distracted Meldrick. I do believe this is why Meldrick didn't answer Steele. But what else was Steele to do.

The real shame in it is to see, just how much of Taylor skills eroded due to that beating. He fought on for years due to money needs, now his speech is slurred badly.

Answer 8

As Richard Steele said after the fight, "I'm the referee, not the timekeeper!"  I don't think he knew how much time was left.

Most people seem to agree that Steele's decision to stop the fight was correct; those who disagree say it was incorrect because of the minimal time remaining in the bout.

If the exact same situation has arisen with 2:30 left in round 11, no one would question the stoppage.  The "rules" of boxing say a fight should be stopped when a fighter is badly cut or is otherwise injured and may suffer permanent injury if the fight continues or if he can't defend himself.  Those "rules" were followed.

A second issue for those who oppose the stoppage is the fact that Taylor was ahead on the scorecards.  He was ahead on two of the three cards (the judge who had Chavez ahead must have been closely related to him) and certainly would have won a decision.  But referees were not scoring fights in Nevada in 1990, and one reason why responsibility for scoring had been taken away from referees was to enable them to focus on the safety and conduct of the fighters.  

Steele was the referee.  He was not keeping the time and he was not scoring the fight.  He did what he thought was in the best interest of the fighter.

Lou Duva, Taylor's manager, was not scoring the fight or keeping time.  In the corner following round 11 he told Taylor he needed to go all out in round 12 to win.  If he had told Meldrick the fight was in the bag and he needed to stay away, If Taylor had been able to follow those instructions, he would have won the fight by decision.  

If anyone deserves to be criticized here, it is Duva and maybe the ring doctor.  

In any event, if the Nevada Commission felt the stoppage was inappropriate, it had the authority to overrule the ref's decision and award the fight to Taylor.  In theory, they would have had the same authority to overrule a stoppage that occurred back in the 11th round.

Answer 9

Yes, Richard Steele was correct.  I watched the fight as it happened, and Meldrick Taylor won every round, even the round he got knocked out in.  Spectacular fight, Mel fought his heart out, but Chavez did a lot of damage over the twelve rounds, and eventually he dropped Taylor.  Meldrick was defenseless, and Steele really wasn't looking at a clock, he was looking at an injured fighter.  Steele did his job, correctly.  If you see Meldrick today, you will understand why quick stoppages have a place in boxing.

Answer 10

yes he was right to stop the fight in those next1 secons chaves couls have landed many punches that could have cause serious ingury o tailor who at that time had no means to defend himself