Holmes - Snipes...premature stoppage?

[JohnThomas1]

Watched it again the other day, does anyone think it could have gone on a smidgeon longer?

[finster]

:nod

[Duodenum]

Holmes certainly wasn't ready for it to end. Yes, it was a premature stoppage. Snipes had nearly two minutes left to go in that round, and was wearing down anyways, but Rudy Ortega was wrong to stop it when he did. Snipes was given less of a chance than Lyle was against Ali, or Marvis Frazier and Leon Spinks got against Larry.

In his post fight interview with Cosell, a very pissed off Snipes yelled, "Why wasn't it stopped when I knocked him down?" Maybe if Renaldo had immediately run to a neutral corner, instead of stupidly standing over Larry with his arms upraised, then Ortega's back might not have been turned to escort Snipes to a neutral corner when Larry got up, only to stumble face first into the nearest corner. If Rudy had seen that, then maybe he would have stopped it in Renaldo's favor. The bottom line is that Snipes didn't respect the title enough to deserve it, as witnessed by his self-destructive showboating. Whatever Holmes said about his challengers, inside the ring he treated them with respect, and generally fought his championship matches as if he was the one challenging.

[heerko koois]

what about the smith stopage ?

[apollack]

Yeah it was stopped a bit too soon, but Snipes was definitely on his way to getting stopped.

Smith was stopped on a cut.

[TBooze]

I can never criticize a ref for stopping a fight too early. But that said Holmes has a lot to thank Ortega for, to get though the seventh.

[Mendoza]

Watched it again the other day, does anyone think it could have gone on a smidgeon longer?

Picking the exact moment to stop a fight is not always easy. You never known when hurt fighter is going to catch a dangerous shot, but I do think Holmes vs Snipes could have been extended for 5-10 more seconds.

Holmes had a way of going easy on guys who were out on their feet and allowing the referee to do his job. His sportsmanship vs a completely outclassed Leon Spinks was admirable. Spinks was done for and caught in the corner. Holmes waived the referee in to stop a finished Spinks. I would have stopped that one much earlier, but the referee felt Spinks should take more punishment so Holmes hit Spinks with a flurry of punches to force a long over due stoppage.

[Duodenum]

I can never criticize a ref for stopping a fight too early. But that said Holmes has a lot to thank Ortega for, to get though the seventh.Perhaps, but as I suggested in a previous post, he probably has more to thank the immature Snipes for.

[Duodenum]

Picking the exact moment to stop a fight is not always easy. You never known when hurt fighter is going to catch a dangerous shot, but I do think Holmes vs Snipes could have been extended for 5-10 more seconds.

Holmes had a way of going easy on guys who were out on their feet and allowing the referee to do his job. His sportsmanship vs a completely outclassed Leon Spinks was admirable. Spinks was done for and caught in the corner. Holmes waived the referee in to stop a finished Spinks. I would have stopped that one much earlier, but the referee felt Spinks should take more punishment so Holmes hit Spinks with a flurry of punches to force a long over due stoppage.The most extraordinarly detailed description of when to stop a fight I ever encountered was Stanley Christodoulu's fascinatingly well articulated account of why he stopped the first Pryor/Arguello match in Miami at the precise moment he did. He instantly squelched any second guessing on the part of the press that he allowed it to continue too long. (If anybody has seen the clip of Christodoulu explaning how he made that determination, then they know why he belongs in the IBHOF. It is the most perfect expression of when to stop a fight that I have ever encountered. I just wish I had the retention ability to recall it verbatim.)

[Bill1234]

Snipes was well on his way to being stopped anyway. IMO the stoppage of LeDoux was premature. Sure Larry was out classing LeDoux, sure he was taking it rather easy, but the ref shouldn't have stopped it.

[Duodenum]

Snipes was well on his way to being stopped anyway. IMO the stoppage of LeDoux was premature. Sure Larry was out classing LeDoux, sure he was taking it rather easy, but the ref shouldn't have stopped it.Obviously, when protesting a stoppage that vigorously, it's clear that LeDoux hadn't been close to succumbing to Larry's attack. But the way they've reportedly been talking about each other since then, maybe they could be rematched as a tuneup for Holmes, prior to getting that long sought after contest with Big Gorge Foreman.

[ChrisPontius]

Snipes was well on his way to being stopped anyway. IMO the stoppage of LeDoux was premature. Sure Larry was out classing LeDoux, sure he was taking it rather easy, but the ref shouldn't have stopped it.

The referee knew that a handpicked opponent like LeDoux didn't have a chance of winning the heavyweight championship in a million years so he decided to save Scotts health a bit.

[Duodenum]

The referee knew that a handpicked opponent like LeDoux didn't have a chance of winning the heavyweight championship in a million years so he decided to save Scotts health a bit.Too bad he couldn't protect Scott's eye from Larry's devastating single finger knockdown punch:good:!:

[JohnThomas1]

Snipes was well on his way to being stopped anyway.

In your opinion he was, but there's been hundreds of occasions when this comment fits and all of a sudden BAM! I agree Larry would have almost definitely got him, but remember Snipes had already dropped Holmes heavily and therefore surely still had some semblance of hope while still in reasonable control of his senses which he was.

[CzarKyle]

I've watched this fight many times over, and everytime I come to the conclusion that it was stopped early. They tried to make the arguement that Snipes arms were down when Larry was hitting him. Thus the stoppage. However, right when Ortega was to step in you can see that Snipes was about to fire back with a punch. I think that fight could have went two more rounds. Snipes basically shot his load after he knocked Larry down, but you never know when a fighter could find that heart to comeback.

[Lex]

The Snipes bout was definitely one of the few controversial Holmes bouts. At the time I thought it was a premature stoppage and probably would if I watched it again today.

There are too many instances of last minute turnarounds to dismiss Snipes' chances. But I hesitate to fault referees - it isn't their primary concern to watch the clock at the end of a round, even the final round. That's the timekeeper's job. Otherwise they'd give time notices every minute or 30 seconds so the referee could decide on a moment by moment basis whether to let a guy continue taking punishment on the off chance he might turn it around with a single shot.

[Robbi]

It was maybe a little too soon, but it was nowhere near as premature as Steele stopping Ruddock against Tyson.

Snipes was not firing back, while Holmes was after he got knocked down during the 7th round. He clearly had his senses about him while back pedalling keeping out of harms way, and came back to finish the round stronger than Snipes.

[Bill1234]

The referee knew that a handpicked opponent like LeDoux didn't have a chance of winning the heavyweight championship in a million years so he decided to save Scotts health a bit.


IMO Larry fought LeDoux, not just because he was an easy match up, but because of LeDoux's wife, and Larry always had a soft spot for people who are sick with cancer. Larry just got the boy of steel award for donating money against cancer.

[Duodenum]

IMO Larry fought LeDoux, not just because he was an easy match up, but because of LeDoux's wife, and Larry always had a soft spot for people who are sick with cancer. Larry just got the boy of steel award for donating money against cancer.And LeDoux issued Larry the challenge after Scott handed undefeated prospect Marty Monroe his first defeat. Holmes declared to the press that LeDoux deserved a shot based on that performance. Before, during, and after the match, that show really belonged to Ali, and his antics were what everyone around the water cooler was discussing the next day.

[ChrisPontius]

And LeDoux issued Larry the challenge after Scott handed undefeated prospect Marty Monroe his first defeat. Holmes declared to the press that LeDoux deserved a shot based on that performance. Before, during, and after the match, that show really belonged to Ali, and his antics were what everyone around the water cooler was discussing the next day.

Holmes shit his pants, ran and dropped the championship belt in the trashcan when he saw how Super Greg Page finished Marty Monroe in just 5 rounds , though.

[JohnThomas1]

Holmes shit his pants, ran and dropped the championship belt in the trashcan when he saw how Super Greg Page finished Marty Monroe in just 5 rounds , though.

Man, did you see the blend of speed and power that day?

:yikes

:yep

[Duodenum]

Man, did you see the blend of speed and power that day?

:yikes

:yepIt still amazes me how he could look so good against Monroe, and then so dismal against Berbick, Chaplin (twice), Bey, 'Spoon, Wills, Bugner, Tubbs and Douglas. Nine lousy performances before he turned 29. (That poor bastard just wasn't into boxing.)

[Titan1]

It still amazes me how he could look so good against Monroe, and then so dismal against Berbick, Chaplin (twice), Bey, 'Spoon, Wills, Bugner, Tubbs and Douglas. Nine lousy performances before he turned 29. (That poor bastard just wasn't into boxing.)

Berbick was just the cultimation of several things going wrong at that time for him.

[Holmes' Jab]

Yeah, Snipes should have been allowed to at least have been given the chance to continue. Bad stoppage, same with Lewis vs McCall I and Ruddock vs Tyson I. :good

[ChrisPontius]

Man, did you see the blend of speed and power that day?

:yikes

:yep

:yep

Ringsiders said he was gonna be the next Ali !

[TBooze]

:yep

Ringsiders said he was gonna be the next Ali !

Ali said he was going to be the next Ali...

[JohnThomas1]

:yep

Ringsiders said he was gonna be the next Ali !

Man, they'd been saying that for YEARS! Ali told Supe, "it's you and me and the Kentucky Derby that keeps this place going" (Louisville)

[Titan1]

If he went after Weaver, it might have changed things.