Fabio Wardley, Joseph Parker and a short history of controversial stoppages

Now the dust has settled on Saturday’s heavyweight title clash between Fabio Wardley and Joseph Parker, we can safely say it was a fight for the ages. Two big men, neither taking a backward step and for the most part swinging for the fences, showed how brutal and exciting the noble art can be. Boxing is pure chaos at times, and on Saturday night at the O2 fans watching on DAZN were treated to one of the fights of the year.

It was an absolute thriller with Wardley – behind on the scorecards - pulling off a huge upset and putting himself in position for a shot at undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in 2026. That’s some going for a fighter with zero amateur fights and just a handful of ‘white collar’ contests before turning pro in 2017.  Fabio deserves all the props in the world for the chin he showed and the cojones he showed as he pulled the fight out of the fire.

If there was one small criticism of the fight, it was the timing of the TKO stoppage in round 11. The expression "better too soon than too late" in boxing refers to the wisdom of a referee erring on the side of caution when rescuing a fighter who they feel has had enough or can’t take anymore.

This is a hard game. Perhaps the hardest of games. After all, the sign above the ring in Brendan Ingle's famous Wincobank Gym read "Boxing can seriously damage your health".

However, Parker was up 98-92, 96-94, 95-95 at the time of the stoppage, and while not throwing much back was clearly riding of a lot of Wardley’s punches, with the Ipswich man missing with most of his big shots and clearly on the brink of exhaustion himself. Parker - while doing himself no favours by failing to throw back consistently or clinch - had not been on the floor, was rolling with the punches and was obviously still in the fight.

Given what was at stake the consensus afterwards on social media and in various WhatsApp groups I am part of was that Howard Foster dived in too soon and did not allow the fight to reach its natural conclusion. If you’re Parker, you are fuming, especially given the wait he has had to endure to fight again for the world heavyweight title. Wardley too might not be happy when he has had some time to reflect, as the early intervention of Foster prevented him from potentially ending proceedings with a highlight reel KO and leaving zero room for doubt.   

For the record, I must declare I am not writing about this with complete impartiality, given I had a sizeable wager on Parker to win on points at 21/10. My luck is that bad right now, if I bought a cemetery people would stop dying, but that’s a column for another day.

The social media reaction was inevitably explosive, and it got me thinking about some of the worst early stoppages in boxing history.

Carl Froch vs. George Groves I

Mr Foster has previous I’m afraid.

Back in 2013 Froch was the IBF and WBA super-middleweight world champion, ‘house fighter’ and red-hot betting favourite to topple Groves. ‘The Saint’ was a cocksure challenger who taunted Froch heavily in the buildup and clearly riled ‘The Cobra’.

For most of the fight, Groves dominated - including a stunning knockdown in the first round - as he used superior speed, accuracy, and sharp counterpunching to stay one step ahead of the champion. Froch began to get a foothold but was clearly behind on points as the ninth round started. In that now infamous round Froch landed a flurry of punches on Groves, who looked hurt but was still firing back and riding shots.

Foster suddenly jumped in and stopped the fight, declaring Froch the winner by TKO.

It was a bad call. For me this one was worse than Parker v Wardley, as Groves was fighting back and Foster jumped in basically when the two warriors were trading. Groves naturally protested long and loud that he was no hurt. The crowd in Manchester were quick to make their feelings known as they booed lustily.

Controversy sells though and in hindsight the result made both men a huge amount of money, such was the clamour for a return bout. Indeed, the controversy was such that it led to Froch v Groves II, held at Wembley Stadium in the early summer of 2014 in front of 80,000 fans (a then record for British boxing).

Mike Tyson vs. Razor Ruddock

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The first Mike Tyson vs. Razor Ruddock fight in March 1991 ended in controversy – and a near riot – in Las Vegas. It was a rough, all-action fight notable for a couple of things. This was Tyson’s first big assignment since his aura-busting defeat to 42/1 underdog Buster Douglas in 1990.

It was also the first fight where I saw Tyson – a noted head-hunter during his 1980s prime – really go to the body consistently. I remember watching this fight as a youngster and thought Tyson’s body shots sounded like shotguns being fired.

It was a back-and-forth war, with Ruddock showing extreme bravery and no little skill, with Tyson always in the ascendancy. The ending came in the seventh, with Steele jumping in when Ruddock was wobbled by a combination and stumbled back against the ropes.

Steele would later say “The guy was hurt. There was no need of me counting him out. Why should I? My job is to stop him from getting seriously hurt". However, the circumstances surrounding the stoppage nearly caused a riot in Sin City and a rematch was signed quickly to settle their dispute once and for all.

Julio Cesar Chavez v. Meldrick Taylor

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For good reason this one is often cited as the daddy when it comes to controversial stoppages. It seems absurd to claim a fight that was called off with two seconds left in the final stanza can be in any list of bad early stoppages, but seeing is believing.

This 1990 clash was a unification bout for the WBC and IBF light-welterweight championships between two undefeated champions. Chavez’ reputation had reached mythical proportions among the Hispanic fight community by this point, but Taylor used his trademark speed to control the fight and bamboozle his Mexican foe for much of the early going.

As the fight entered the championship rounds however, Chavez began to noticeably hurt and subtly wear Taylor down with his unrelenting heavy shots. With just seconds left in the final stanza, a corker of a right hand from Chavez dropped Taylor. Meldrick got up before the count of ten, but he was unable to respond to Steele's questions (distracted by a frantic Lou Duva motioning in his corner). The record shows that Steele stopped the fight with only two seconds remaining. It was a wild call.

Many people felt the stoppage was premature and that Taylor - who gave absolutely everything that night - should have been allowed to continue and claim the win on the cards and unify the belts at 140. The ending was so controversial, referee Steele was booed for over a decade whenever he was introduced in Las Vegas.

Perhaps you could argue it was the right call medically, but historically this was a cruel and poignant decision, as it cost Taylor a career-defining win and he was never the same fighter thereafter.

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