Anthony Crolla Vs Derry Matthews

Evening all

Just watched the Crolla fight which was a cracker until the end. What are your thoughts on the stoppage?

I personally think it was a tad early considering there was only about 5 seconds to go in the round. After the punch that rocked Crolla, nothing of note hit him before the ref stopped it. I think he should have let him carry on. Shame as it was a great fight.

Matthews would have slowed the longer the fight went on and Crolla was still quite sharp. Got tagged a fair bit mind but it was shaping up to be a fantastic bout.

Thoughts?

I am inclined to agree with you it was early however long was left in the round, which I don't think should influence the ref.

Cracking fight, re-match would be well worth a look.

I too thought the fight was stopped too early, I think the ref should have realised that with less than 5 seconds in the round, he should have let him finish the round, then see how he is afterwards.

Let's hope it happens. I think the shot he took in the 3rd round which dropped him upset his rhythm and he never quite got back together defensively. Can't wait for a rematch.

Agreed Nathan

Stopped to early imo but crolla had taken a lot of punishment up to that point. Matthews looked to be wincing when crolla worked the body and he would have slowed down more than crolla would and you never know. He looked out of sorts after the knockdown and neglected his head movement and ate a lot of heavy punches

Yeah I noticed that. Matthews arms had dropped from all the body shots he took. Another couple of rounds and he would have been there for the taking.

Tad early, but I think the cuts and the fact he was badly hurt earlier didn't help.

Yeah the cuts were quite bad. Although they did look like to be getting under control.

Thought Crolla was still defending himself and wasn't hit with a lot following the punch that wobbled him. Premature stoppage for me.

Crolla was far to easy to hit all the same which was disappointing given he is very classy on the attack.

He seemed to be ok until he got put down in the 3rd. Got tagged far too often after that.

I am not on twitter but I read elsewhere that Paul Smith tweeted that Crolla was away with the fairies by the time the stoppage happened, so maybe not a bad stoppage at all and might have been pulled out anyway.

Cracking fight though, like everybody else was dissapointed when it was stopped.

surely the time left in the round should not matter as that could be 3 or 4 more shots the fighter should not have to take?
And lets face it Gallagher is not exactly going to pull a fighter out is he

Didn't know that von trapp. That's interesting. They know him best I guess.

Georgey he wasn't getting hit though after the shot that wobbled him. He slipped a few and moved back.

Read that today Von Trapp, said he never recovered from the first knockdown and fought on instinct after that.

Another Gallagher fighter gets sparked out...... It's becoming a bit of a regular thing this.

I was thinking to myself that Crolla wasn't moving his head just as Watt started to talk about it. Sure his defences were ok but you can't fight like that forever without something getting through and then you take the full force. Surely any trainer worth his money should be making sure this doesn't happen.

Fair play to Matthews who did well, made a nice adjustment to his tactics when it appeared the uppercut was his best chance of success, but have to say am getting a little bored with how squeamish refs are becoming, appreciate getting balance between safety and giving fighters a chance is a tricky one to strike but think we are seeing more and more refs get it wrong. Boxing is dangerous you will never change that but the inherent danger is one all fighters accept and so you have to give fighters a chance.

Crolla was definitely rocked but was not on dream street, the ability to overcome a crisis is one fighters need to develop and stopping fights so soon denies them this valuable lesson, also denies the fans a fight that was shaping up to be a classic.

I've no issues with the stoppage. Crolla was rocked, had shipped a lot of punishment and it was only a matter of time for me. Throw in the cut and I've no problem with the stoppage.

I agree Jeff - getting rocked and surviving is a part of boxing.

Gallagher is a joke, he really went down in my estimation when he didn't pull Murray out against Rios and those 41 - 0 tops annoyed me too.... YOU ARE NOT FIGHTING

Does anyone else think that Matthews was seriously starting to flag before he landed the final telling (not so telling in my eyes) shot? If the ref had let it go (which imho he should have) I thought Crolla was good for a late stoppage win. Gutted with the result, great fight though and looking forward to the rematch.

Matthews was trying to get him out of there so he might have been looking tired but he did the job. Subsequently Crolla looked no better off at all, in fact every good punch that landed had him wobbling all over the place. Nothing there to me to suggest he was good for a late stoppage win.

I missed this fight live, I only watched it on repeat last night. Great match up! But Ive got to say I thought that stoppage awful and ruined a great encounter for me. You should be allowed the opportunity to weather the storm. I dont think anyones saying Crolla wasnt hurt or out on his feet but fighters can weather these moments. Croll a had even had to do it earlier in the fight and for me the fight still looked absolutely in the balance. Both guys were hurting each other and Mathews looked like every body shot was taking something out of him so I can understand the comment that said they could have seen a late stoppage for Crolla. Very disappointing ending to a great match up. If refs are going to stop fights on that basis which is something that seems to really be a problem in domestic oxing then I would prefer that they introduced a standing 8 counts with a point deduction rather than just wve off a fight when a fighter is hurt. We have seen some terrific battles in the past when both fighters have been hurt but turned the tables. How long would Moore and Macklin has lasted these days?

I expected Crolla to win this by knockout but Mathews couldnt miss with the uppercut which Crolla was totally vunerable to. I dont know what it is about Mathews but he just always looks so frail for a boxer. Very skinny and weak at the weight, always looks like hes hurt to the body and never looks to have much power at the weight. But maybe its just an illusion because hats off to him for a great display of energy and stamina.

I hope theres a rematch for that fight in the future.

There won't be a rematch according the Matthews twitter feed Manos. When the Crolla camp made calls for a rematch he just came out with comments like; I stopped him, beat him clearly etc.

Shame as it was a voluntary defence for Crolla and every champion should be given a chance to get revenge.

hampo171 wrote:There won't be a rematch according the Matthews twitter feed Manos. When the Crolla camp made calls for a rematch he just came out with comments like; I stopped him, beat him clearly etc.

Shame as it was a voluntary defence for Crolla and every champion should be given a chance to get revenge.

I agree. Especially given the soft stoppage. Disappointed to hear that they have come out with comments like that.

Maybe he wants to take a couple of easy defences and win the belt outright?