When to stop a fight
By Joaquin Henson
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 23 Oct 2025
It’s never an easy call for a referee to stop a fight. A premature ending will lead to a howl of protest particularly if a fighter is still able to defend himself and retaliate. But a late halt could be damaging and put a fighter’s life in serious danger. Referee Carlos Padilla recalled that in 1979, he waved off the bout between Sugar Ray Leonard and Wilfred Benitez with only six seconds left in the 15-round WBC welterweight title match at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas.
Padilla said it didn’t matter how much time was left in the fight. His main concern was to protect the fighters in the ring. Leonard had floored Benitez with 30 seconds remaining. Benitez got up, fought back but after taking two more solid punches, Padilla stepped in. It’s often said that a second early is better than a second too late in stopping a fight.
Last month, WBA/WBO minimumweight champion Oscar Collazo of Puerto Rico was awarded a seventh round TKO over Filipino challenger Jayson Vayson in Indio, California. Vayson’s chief second Allan Alegria signaled to referee Tom Taylor to call it off. Vayson took a mandatory eight-count on a fluke knockdown in the first round and was badly behind on points when the end came. The three judges gave Vayson only a round on their scorecards.
It appeared that Vayson was running out of gas when Collazo began to step up his attack in the sixth round. Thrice, Taylor checked on Vayson in between rounds. The California State Athletic Commission representative in Vayson’s corner was worried about his condition. When Collazo put on the pressure in the seventh, Alegria waved the white flag even as Vayson wasn’t totally out of it.
A respected boxing authority, watching the fight on TV, said it looked like Vayson’s corner was “spooked” by Taylor and the California State Athletic Commission that repeatedly checked on the fighter. The corner could’ve panicked, the authority said. The promoter Golden Boy obviously wanted a big win by Collazo who’s Puerto Rican like its CEO Oscar de la Hoya, cheering at ringside. Collazo is hailed as Puerto Rico’s next big thing in boxing. The officials could’ve rushed things to seal a KO.
But Vayson’s corner insisted it did the right thing. Note that last August, two Japanese boxers Shigetoshi Kotari and Hiromasa Urakawa, both 28, died from brain injuries suffered from separate bouts on the same card in Tokyo. Last May, Ginjiro Shigeoka lapsed into a coma with a blood clot in the brain after losing on points to IBF minimumweight champion Pedro Taduran in Osaka. Only last week, Filipino Jino Rodrigo sustained a subdural hematoma after a 10th round KO loss to Cain Sandoval in Santa Ynez, California. Rodrigo is now out of the hospital but remains under guarded observation.
Cornermen know their fighters better than a referee. Yet many hesitate to pull the plug, hoping there’s still a chance to win despite a heavy beating. The recent rash of boxing injuries and fatalities should remind cornermen that more than a referee, they’re the first line of defense to protect their fighters from serious injury.
Photo: Oscar Collazo and Jayson Vayson just before Vayson's corner stopped the fight in the 6th round for a TKO victory by Collazo.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Joaquin Henson.
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