When Is The Right Time To Throw In The Towel?

As a viewer or a fan of boxing, what is the overriding emotion we feel when we see a contest halted as a result of the towel being thrown into the ring? Is it relief? Or is there-pardon the pun-an unconscious element of disappointment that the fight is over? Do we as viewers selfishly demand that boxers are allowed to continue, perhaps even knowingly accepting that the consequences could be dire, just in case we see a momentum swing of epic proportions and witness a Corrales Castillo moment?

If the answer to the latter question is yes, then we need to re-align our expectations and realise that the priority should be the safety of the competitor above all else. For every Corrales Castillo or Gatti Ward, there is a Benn McClellan and a Eubank Watson. That is the unfortunate reality of boxing.

It is apparent that in our search for boxing drama, our everyday moral conscience is skewed by our desire for a back-and-forth battle with barbarism rivalled only by that of a scene out of Rocky IV. I believe that this debate can be split into two main aspects: entertainment and safety. One should not be compromised in pursuit of the other.

Only last week we had another example of a trainer coming under scrutiny for throwing in the towel. Ben Davison halted the contest between his charge Leigh Wood and Mexican Mauricio Lara, sparing his man from further punishment following a thunderous left hook that left Wood sprawling on the canvas and then dancing towards his own corner in a desperate attempt to show his head had cleared.

Davison saw his fighter in danger and requested that the contest be stopped. For me, those are the only important elements of the situation, however many other factors have a bearing on how individuals perceive the decision. Ex-professional boxers and boxing pundits alike queued up to justify their reasoning as to why they think the contest should have continued. Former Light Heavyweight World Champion Clinton Woods took to Facebook to air his opinion on the result posting, ‘Remember this fight, if the towel came in, we wouldn’t’, alongside a link to round ten of Corrales vs Castillo. Nick Peet, who is part of the popular ‘Fight Disciples’ podcast, also tweeted immediately after the fight saying, ‘10 seconds to go in the round, a minute to recover. Shocker there from Ben Davison. Sorry, Wood was hurt, but that’s a terrible decision.’

First of all, if a trainer feels that their fighter appears incapable of continuing or in terms of being able to defend themselves, then the time on the clock is largely irrelevant. They have a unique relationship with them in that they will know better than anyone whether they are alert enough to resume. They should be supported in their decision to show compassion towards them, they will naturally show concern regarding their health and have a duty of care. By the way, ten seconds is a long time in boxing, especially if you are not defending yourself in a way that you would normally. Imagine if Wood was not able to clinch or spoil his way through to the relative safety of the end of the round. Imagine if Lara swung another unanswered hook. Obviously, I am not naïve enough to think that there was not the possibility of a scenario that could have seen Wood survive and turn the fight around. Plenty of boxers have done the same, Wood’s conditioning is fantastic, much like his Nottingham based predecessor Carl Froch, and he could have gone on to win the fight. That is not the crux of this debate, the criticism simply should not be as vehement towards someone who is unwilling to take that risk at the potential detriment to their fighter’s health.

Another factor that seemed to influence people’s narrative, was the notion that because Wood was winning the fight, he should somehow be given special dispensation and greater scope to continue. Just in the same way that there is a perceived ideology that suggests a champion should be given ‘every chance’ before stopping a contest. I do not subscribe to that way of thinking, Wood being the WBA Featherweight Champion does not give him super power qualities. I can recall being at the first Groves Froch fight in Manchester, and if I am honest, I was incensed with Howard Foster for waving it off. Having performed so well, I felt like Groves had somehow been cheated. So, I understand the emotional attachment, but the sport, its fans and all those within the industry, needs to adopt a different approach, it needs to change the reaction to these kinds of decisions and recognise the safety of the boxer above all else. That does not mean we stop wanting to see tough, hard fights. It just means that we should not want boxers to be on the brink of mortality just to preserve a record or win a chunk of metal.

Boxers by their nature will play up to the ‘warrior’ culture, they will present that macho behaviour and it is reinforced through the ever-increasing need for trash talk. They can not be expected to be the ones to preserve their own health, because the image and persona they perpetuate through the media and on social platforms, invariably adds to the pressure of conceding defeat, especially in a submissive manner. On the rare occasion that a fighter does spare themselves further punishment by refusing to fight on, they are labelled a ‘quitter’. That negative rhetoric needs to be addressed. There are too many former fighters who have slurred speech or irreversible damage because of being too brave.

A fighter who has shown the courage to step through the ropes should never be referred to as a quitter, not by a fan, another fighter or anyone. It sets a dangerous precedent and is exactly why we need to support coaches and trainers or even referees who want to save boxers from themselves.

It is an interesting point that according to the rules of the sport, the referee and ONLY the referee has the autonomy to stop a contest, they are the sole arbiter of a bout, not a corner person. From personal experience, Aside from Mickey Vann (Katsidis vs Earl) and Steve Gray (Ritson vs Ponce) I cannot recall a referee throwing the towel back out of the ring. More often than not, the referee will trust and respect that judgement and I think it is time, collectively that we did the same.

By Shaun Rye