The Doggy Bag: ‘What Are They Thinking?!’ Edition
A Mallet for Malott
I don't normally complain about judges, referees and regulation, but I've been a hardcore combat sport fan for some years now, and the Pat Curran-Joe Warren stoppage is the worst by a nautical mile that I have ever seen in boxing or MMA. Warren was clearly done the moment that first knee landed, and the fight should have been stopped after two or three more punches landed. Perhaps the reason the stoppage was so horrendously overdue in this fight is that the referee waited for that typical moment when the guy flops to the floor, obeying the unwritten rule and custom. This felt barbaric, and the referee ought to be reprimanded. I hope I never see this again. -- Peterson from London Mike Whitman, news editor: I also hope we never have to see this again, but we probably will.
The reality is that referees are going to make mistakes, whether by letting the fight go too long or stopping it too quickly. That is the nature of the beast.
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A large contingent of the MMA fan collective appears obsessed with discussing the training and hiring of better judges, but it seems the subject of referee competency is brought up more rarely -- namely, after somebody takes way too many shots.
While judging is certainly an important issue, it should clearly
take a back seat to the hiring of astute referees. When a judge
messes up, a fighter might lose his win bonus. When a referee
messes up, a fighter might die.
In the case of Warren, this is uncompromisingly apparently. I don’t know what referee Jeff Malott was thinking, but, in my view, it was incorrect. Extending your hands to gauge distance while you have your eyes closed is not intelligently defending yourself. Neither is turning your back to a hailstorm of punches. Neither is holding your opponent desperately while you eat bomb after bomb.
Those are ways that our human instinct communicates, “Hey, I’m done,” even as the conscious mind wills us on.
You are correct to say that standing stoppages due to strikes in MMA are rarer than grounded ones, and perhaps that was a reason why Malott allowed the fight to continue. If that is indeed the case, this fight should be used in every referee training course henceforth as an example of how to recognize that a fighter is out on his feet.
Following the bout, Warren reportedly experienced nausea and vomiting, two telltale signs of a concussion. Malott’s mistake put some seriously needless miles on the brain odometer of Warren, a man who has already absorbed a significant amount of punishment in his short career.
Regardless of whether he drops in weight, I’m not sure it’s a good idea for Joe Warren to keep fighting. Just look at the blows he has taken in his last five fights. While Alexis Vila’s punching power at bantamweight is certainly an anomaly, I don’t know that Warren -- who has made a habit of getting cracked repeatedly at featherweight -- can deal with the hand speed at 135 pounds. He may end up eating even more shots, which could be worse for him in the long run.
Above all else, the health of a fighter must be our primary concern. At 35 years old, Warren fights with arguably as much heart and determination as anyone in this game. While that trait has won him some memorable bouts, it may also be the thing that harms his well-being.
Warren has taught us that, even at 35, he isn’t the kind of guy to quit on his own. I truly hope that those closest to him make a sincere evaluation of his ability to continue fighting when weighed against the long-term danger of sustaining more blows.
Continue Reading » Page Five: A Smoother Season 9?
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