No matter what some say I think Steele had no choice but to stop the fight. Meldrick was holding on to the ropes and never responded to Steele's questions, so he left him with no otheroption.
- I couldn't disagree any more with you. Many fighter hold onto the ropes while waiting for theref's count. It doesn't mean a thing and the referee's don't take any action against it. It happens all the time. Taylor wasn't responding to Steele's questioning because he was looking over to his right sidewhere his trainer Lou Duva had
{foolishly} jumped up to the ring. He may have been hurt, but no way should Steele had stopped this fight with <u>two </u>seconds from the end of the fight
{12th round} remaining.Meldrick Taylor
{who, IMO,had the fastest hands of any fighter I've ever seen, even RJJnr} was ripped off in this fight. He was 8-3 ahead on one ofthe judges scorecardsgoing into the 12th and final round. Taylor had blinding speed who hit hard. Chavez was a devastating hardbody puncher.
Chavez was the harder puncher but Taylor would land maybe four or fivefor every one punch that Chavez threw. He was that quick. Meldrick Taylor totaly dominated this fight in the early 6 or so rounds. Chaves didn't know where the hits were coming from for the majority of this fight. Close to the 9th or 10th round, Taylor was a little worn out and Chavez was catching him with some good hard body and head punches. Going into their corners at the conclusion of the 11th, Lou Duva screwed up. He advised Taylor that he needed to win the 12th and final round to win the match. He said it was that close.This was bad advice from Duva, which
{partly and indirectly} cost Taylor the fight. Taylor was well ahead on all three judge's score cards and only needed to see this round out to win the fight and World Championship title belt.
Meldrick Taylor came out in the 12th roundand fought the way he only knows how. Throwing many combination punches at lightning speeds. This wore him out, as if he wasn't already by this stage. With 15seconds left in the 12th round, Chavez landed a short right-hand that dropped Taylor to the canvas. Taylor rose to his feet well before the mandatory count and turned to his right side at trainer Lou Duva who, by this stage,had climbed onto the ring
{outside the ropes}. Referee Richard Steele asked Taylor <u>twice</u>if he was allright in quick concession. Taylor did not respond because he was looking at Duva trying to listen to what he was shouting out
{a furious Duva, at Steele's premature stoppage, was shouting at Steele that there were 5 seconds left in the round and counting down}. Steele, obviously, not getting a response from Taylor, and ignoring Duva cries from 8 feet away, stopped the fight with two seconds remaining on the fight clock.Two seconds!Absolutelyabsurd! Chavez was awarded the winner
{and appeared somewhat surprised and releaved}and regained his unbeaten record. The "Don" was hugging and kissing everyone in his sight. Lou Duva was running wild in the ring looking for Steele's blood. Steele was running scared looking for law enforcement protection. Meldrick Taylor
{completely concious at the time} was simply screwed and devestated. As he should of bee.
This is my personalopinion of one of the very best fights I've ever seen. Do yourself a favour, fight fans, and get your hands on this fight. You'll be glad you did.
Referee Richard Steele was simply a crook working for the "Don". It's my opinion, but I'm not alone in this line of thinking as many boxing fans and experts think the same way.
Howard Sirota from
BoxingRanks wrote it well here -
It was Richard Steele who fixed the Julio Cesar Chavez v. Meldrick Taylor fight, stealing Meldrick's victory from him and ruining his career. Taylor was beating Don King's golden goose going into the last round, when, with two seconds left and Taylor on his feet, Steele stopped the fight, giving Chavez the victory in the only possible way open to him, since the bell for the final round would have saved Taylor even if Chavez had knocked Taylor down again. In my personal opinion, the stoppage of the Chavez v. Taylor fight was such a blatantly wrong call that I don't believe that it's a coincidence that Steele's startling call put a large sum of money in the hands of Don King and kept Chavez's unbeaten streak alive. I would love to see an investigation into Richard Steele's finances and his ties to promoters. Whether it's cash in a bag, consulting deals, or just free trips, fees and exposure, I'd like to know if Don King or Bob Arum have ever had or do have any direct or indirect financial relationship with Richard Steele or any member of his family. Don King has admitted giving cash "gifts" to a variety of boxing officials; why think King would draw the line at the referee? It is of course possible that all this is simply a matter of Richard Steele rising to his level of incompetence, but I just can't believe that we'd still be seeing his shaved head if he had made controversial calls that led to the first-ever defeats of the biggest marquee names of their times. I say follow the money and you'll always know what Richard Steele will do in the ring.
- Howard Sirota