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exactly what happened. Paddy wasn’t trying to cheat, he was simply full of energy in the moment. Shame

Paddy was clearly ahead in all cards after 7 rds.

It's not the ending people are complaining about, it was Crocker's constant looking to the ref and complaining about the head, when his head was often lower than Donovan's. When you have a lot of infighting there will inevitably be head clashes, but that's the nature of the game.

In round 7 Crocker reeled away grimacing and pointing to his eye and the ref didn't actually warn Donovan, because as the replay showed, Donovan's head made contact with Crocker's shoulder!

Being a whinge and trying to play the ref is not "looking for a way out". If he truly wanted out and his heart wasn't in it, he'd have stayed down when he got floored the first time.

The stuff about dropping his hands is simply post fight bluster and bravado. Did you expect him to stand there and give an interview where he admitted he got taken apart and was incredibly fortunate to have been awarded a win? It's not his fault the ref made a balls of it.

how did the ref make a balls of it? Are you saying he should not have DQd Paddy for a clearly after the bell illegal punch?

nothing contrary at all. And I’m not trying to convince anyone. Don’t be so silly. Where does it say in rule book that a referee has to be up close near end of round to prevent an illegal late punch?

Referees don’t keep time, and nor does an alarm sound to alert a referee to the near end of a round. So, how did the referee make a balls of the call? Paddy made a balls of it, not the referee.

and you’re proceeding to be silly. You said ref made a balls of it. And you can’t show why. End of. The contrary nonsense is in your head

No, I just wanted to go to bed rather than get deeper into an argument with someone clearly gee eyed on a load of cheap cans.

What on earth are you on about the rulebook? Where did I say anything about the ref has to be close to prevent an illegal punch. I clearly stated that it is 100% Donovan's responsibility not to foul the other fighter.

However, if the ref had been doing his job even half competently, the foul would never have happened. It is the referee's job to protect the fighters and Crocker was being whaled on, having already been knocked down and a horrific looking eye. Given you're suggesting the referee couldn't possibly be expected to be aware that the round was about to end, presumably the logical extension of that is he'd not have been aware if there were another 10, 20, 30 seconds etc left in the round. Should he have just continued to watch Crocker get battered rather than intervening and stopping the fight? If there was time left in the round , that fight was ending a few seconds later. His failure to do his job in protecting Crocker meant he was on the receiving end of the foul and badly KOed. If you think McDonnell isn't in line for a critical mauling, you're absolutely deluding yourself.

None which, as I've now said twice, changes the fact that it's Donovan's responsibility not to foul his opponent.

Tank-Roach was interesting.

If you'd read (or understood) any of the posts, you'd have been aware that I already did.

Now, if ya wanna see a referee screw up it was not awarding a KD against Davis in rd 9 last night. Cost Roach the victory

Thought Donovan boxed superbly and was awful unlucky to come out with that outcome. Referee was weak all night.

Hopefully one of those situations where the controversy helps bring a bit more attention to Donovan and actually ends up boosting his profile and career a bit. Will be important that the IBF help him out though. Got to order an immediate rematch. Probably unlikely but the dream scenario would be Ennis moving up in weight, vacating the title and the rematch being for a world title.

What could Crocker do differently? I mean, right from start he was looking gun-shy, even before Paddy was tagging him. I have not seen too much of Crocker, but I did think he’d outwork and break Paddy down. Paddy boxed very well, but Crocker was just too inactive. Reminded me a Scott Quigg against Frampton.

A wise man once said

"You live by the egg, you die by the egg"

Chris Eubank Jr. - 2025.