When quitting is acceptable
Lately I have been besieged with questions about how a fighter like Guillermo Rigondeaux could just quit in a championship fight against Vasyl Lomachenko after six rounds, citing a phantom hand injury.
Frankly, I am at a loss to explain the bizarre turn of events, although I would hasten to add that I was never a fan of Rigo’s fighting style.
Just last week, Rigo’s woes were exacerbated by the fact that tests on his left hand revealed no injury, just some swelling and bruising on his knuckles.
Wow. A quit job due to some swelling in his knuckles in a championship fight.
If he’s not comfortable with some bruising in his knuckles, maybe Rigo should consider playing chess, so his hands can be injury-free.
ACCEPTABLE. While I am never one to gaud fighters to be battered into incoherence, I believe there are certain ground rules before quitting can be considered acceptable in a championship fight.
True, that might sound a bit harsh, but remember, these are paid professional fighters earning millions of dollars and they know fully well the calculated risks going into a fight.
Plus they owe it to the fans to give an excellent outing or at least put on a good show.
A more recent example of an honorable surrender would be Kell Brooks who had to call it quits in the 11th round against Errol Spence Jr. due to a broken orbital bone, which rendered his left eye useless. But remember that Brook suffered the injury early in the fight and had to soldier on and fight on even terms. His eye started swelling midway through the fight and he was knocked down in the 10th round but got up.
David Haye also ruptured his Achilles heel in his heavyweight fight against Tony Bellew last March, but Haye continued for a few more rounds despite hobbling painfully on one leg. His injury was so apparent that fans looked on in horror, but he kept swinging in there, trying to score that knockout against Bellew.
I could go on and on, starting with the great Joe Frazier who suffered a severe eye injury which immortalized the “Thrilla in Manila” against Muhammad Ali. Or Paulie Malignaggi who suffered a broken orbital bone but kept fighting in there against one of the greatest Puerto Rican fighters in history, Miguel Cotto
HEART. I am not a big fan of Haye, Brook and Malignaggi. Haye and Malignaggi are both prodigious gas bags, while Brook has a boring fighting style.
But what these men showed was heart and courage despite being faced with a potential career-ending injury.
Again, I do not condone senseless butchery inside the ring, but there has to be the element of attrition and real danger plus a corresponding response from a fighter that shows he has pride in what he does.
It might be a portmanteau of different elements, none od which were present in Rigo’s case.
He was so inept that according to Compubox, he landed only a total of 12 punches thru five rounds and didn’t land more than three punches in any round.
Ergo, the stink of non-effort was apparent all throughout the fight. That to me, is unacceptable.
LAST ROUND. It’s on Bobong Romero who recently celebrated his birthday. Cheers!