Holm vs Mathis: Video Highlights of a Brutal Fight That Should Have Been Stopped
by Scott Christ on Dec 4, 2011 10:53 PM EST
in Boxing Fight Videos - Highlights
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PrintEarlier we put the spotlight on a news report from Albuquerque that had the clip of popular hometown fighter Holly Holm being knocked out by France's Anne Sophie Mathis. It was a pretty brutal knockout, and then the newscaster said clearly that the fight should have been stopped well before it was, but their clips didn't show just why he said that.
Now you can see more, and find out for yourself that he was absolutely right. Here are highlights from the entire fight, courtesy KRQE:
The brutality started particularly in the sixth round, when referee Rocky Burke called a clear knockdown of Holm a slip quite wrongly, and then allowed Holm to take ugly punishment for the remainder of the round. At the end of it, she staggered to her corner.
In the seventh, Holm was absolutely, 100% being demolished by Mathis, and was at one point out on her feet and being held up only by the ropes. Here's a snap of that moment:
So what did Rocky Burke do there? You'd guess he's jumping in to stop the fight, as Holm has stopped responding and would be face-down on the canvas if not for the ropes. No, no! You're wrong. Rocky Burke instead gets Holm untangled from the ropes, stands her up, and then allows Mathis to come and knock Holm out ice cold.
This is negligent refereeing at best, extremely dangerous refereeing more accurately. Yes, boxing is a tough sport where people get hurt, and the fighters go into the ring expecting to take punishment. I'm not trying to be parental about this. But Holm could have been seriously injured when Burke needlessly allowed her to take more shots to the head. The fight was over. It could have and arguably should have been stopped in the sixth round. The knockout was unnecessary.
Thankfully, Holly appeared to be OK at the post-fight presser. Thankfully, this didn't go really wrong. But it could have.
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OMG Are they fucking kidding me
That referee should be tied to a ring rope and beaten to death. He practically hung her out there to be killed. What an asshole
"Silence is golden when you can't think of a good answer"
---- Muhammed Ali
Maybe a female referee would have acted completely different.
I think that there should be female refs for some women’s matches, actually. There are some women who have the imposing size to be in-your-face tough just like a man, and that should be enough (theoretically) for most women’s boxing matches. Don’t get me wrong though, I’m not trying to discredit the ladies in any way.
Ugh...not necessarily.
I have the nagging feeling that some of them may have a chip on their shoulder and may bend over backwards to prove a point—what point? Fuck if I know…
A female ref called the MMA chamionship fight between Cristiane Santos and Jan Finney a while back, with the former absolutely eviscerating the former, and she just let the fight go for long until she finally stopped it, but by then Finney was looking very much like Holm. It was awful; and it is weird b/c I’ve seen her reffing dudes and she’s very much on point there.
The Internets: Where there are no girls and men become children.
VIDEO REMOVED HERE IS ANOTHER LINK
http://ironforgesiron.com/2011/12/video-holly-holm-vs-anne-sophie-mathis/
There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else--James Thurber, 1939
Female ref called the strikeforce fight where Rhonda Roussey arm barred her opponent and ended up snapping the arm. That ref should have stopped the fight too.
Female/Male it just doesn’t matter, there are a billion males in this world that would have stopped that sooner.
There are probably field mice in the New Mexico desert that would have better sense than the ref in that ring that night.
http://fistonchin.com http://brightlightssports.com
That was unbelievable.
Just atrocious…
Xtreme Couture- The best never rest! The girl in my av is Kari Sweets (you're welcome).
"I swear it upon Zeus an outstanding runner cannot be the equal of an average wrestler."
-Socrates
by ElliotMatheny on Dec 5, 2011 2:22 AM EST up reply actions
I don’t think this was anything more than a poor referee being biased to the home town fighter, but its stupid and ultimately dangerous.
by Dirk Thrust on Dec 5, 2011 1:32 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Holy shit, that was inhuman and insanely brutal
Where they trying to get her killed in there? Not only the ref was awful but also were was her corner? Why did no one try to stop the fight in the 6th round, or at the very least the moment she ended like a rag doll hanging from the ropes. Why would any sensible person allow her to continue after that let alone prop her up to get beaten down once more. Like Pakin said, what an asshole.
It’s hard to argue against those that think boxing is a barbaric sport when we have clips like this as evidence to support that notion. Unfortunately, one single fight like this is worth 100 fights (or more) were things were handled properly in the minds of the general population.
Terrible for Holm, terrible for boxing. It wasn’t nationally televised, so maybe they thought no one would know. My fear is that sucker will go viral for all the wrong reasons. I’m going to write regarding that asshole referee, the doctor, and whoever from the commission was present.
There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else--James Thurber, 1939
And don't forget her corner.
In the post fight, the guy literally said “She’d have hated me,” among other nonsense, when questioned on why he didn’t throw the towel.
Amazing…
The Internets: Where there are no girls and men become children.
That, right there, might be the single worst reffing job I’ve ever seen. Joe Cortez is bad. Russell Mora was absolutely terrible in the first Mares-Agbeko fight. But from missing a clean knockdown to not stopping the fight when Holm was staggering around the ring eating punches in the 6th to whatever the hell that seventh round was, that was incredibly terrible.
by Verklemptomaniac on Dec 4, 2011 11:38 PM EST reply actions
Watching this ruined my night
Someone give please get us this guy’s address.
And those of his superiors.
"Silence is golden when you can't think of a good answer"
---- Muhammed Ali
New Mexico Athletic Commission Complaint Procedures
Athletic Commission
5200 Oakland Ave. NE Suite C
Albuquerque, NM 87113
(505) 476-4622
(505) 476-4645-9865 Fax
RLD-AthleticCommission@state.nm.us
Licensee: Rocky Burke
Profession: Athletic Commission Type: Referee
License #: 4014
I guess it's a good thing she fell out of the ring...
…during the KO, or else he’d have stood her up and let her keep continuing to get pummeled.
Note: I took a look at NMAC website to see about filing complaint about this guy. And I hope their website is just not updated very often, because if it is, Rocky Burke’s referee license expired in 2008 (I tried to link to the results page, but it doesn’t let me).
Not even gonna watch it.
Boxing, especially women’s, is brutal enough to begin with. Disgusting when things like this happen.
by BangBangLampley on Dec 4, 2011 11:59 PM EST reply actions
If not mistaken, Holm has been fighting for a long time.
Maybe the ring years have simply taken a toll on her and she’s just 100% worn-out, like a used car tire.
`
that has nothing to do with it. Any fighter deserves more protection than that.
There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else--James Thurber, 1939
agreed
Holly is obviously as tough as any man. But someone has to step in. Clearly the woman can and will take a shot. So do your job, officials.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
Oh I'm not disputing that
There’s no question the ref should have done a way better job and stopped it much earlier. I was just implying that at this point perhaps Holm is all but ready to hang up her gloves.
Woman fighters, especially at the highest level, deserve better refing than this. It’s very unfortunate this had to happen. The sixth and seventh rounds didn’t look at all like a sport to me.
http://fistonchin.com http://brightlightssports.com
All fighters deserve better reffing than this, and better corners. Her manager’s name is Mike Winkeljohn, something should be done about him too.
There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else--James Thurber, 1939
Fighters depend on the third man to save them from this sort of thing. Holly was betrayed
by her corner and the Ref. This was the darker side of boxing ion display.
"Boxing is the red light district of sports."
—Jimmy Cannon
Mike Winklejohn is also her boxing trainer, if I'm not mistaken.
He works out of Albuquerque New Mexico alongside coach Greg Jackson; both of them head the uber successful Team Jackson of MMA that has a bunch of fighters competing in the UFC. It’s kinda buzzkill to see the guy have so little fucking sense.
Someone should straighten him out.
The Internets: Where there are no girls and men become children.
That guy should never be allowed to ref another fight. That was horrible. As bad as he was, im actually more angry at her corner. When someone is getting beat that bad, throw in the damn towel or dont let her come out for the next round.
Her coach’s name is Mike Winkeljohn, that’s who’s in the corner with her.
He co runs Jackson’s/Winkeljohn’s Mixed Marial Arts Gym in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Jackson’s/Winkelman’s Mixed Martial Arts Gym
5505 Acoma SE
Albuquerque, NM 87108
(505) 881-7911
There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else--James Thurber, 1939
That ref needs to be fucking shot.
It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.
- Edmund Hillary
by Stevosaurus Rex on Dec 5, 2011 6:24 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
Check out his boxing record. He was iced 29 times.
"Boxing is the red light district of sports."
—Jimmy Cannon
Mathis is like a female Margarito.
She gets hit square in the face and just walks through it. That’s just nuts.
The Internets: Where there are no girls and men become children.
I am completely speechless...
I re-watched this three times to see an angle on why everybody present was completely negligent can see it from their viewpoint at all…
The part where the ref literally untangles her semi-conscious body from the ropes and stands her up to get brutally KO’d is quite possibly the most absurd thing I’ve seen in boxing ever. And that’s saying something.
by The Boxer Rebellion on Dec 5, 2011 10:57 AM EST reply actions
That was brutal
"Boxing is like dealing with a ho"
-Bernard Hopkins
Absolutely horrible!
"That was very funny about the old man basketball skills. One is lucky to escape injury when playing against those crafty, crusty sumbitches. And it’s just demoralizing when they demonstrate yet again how to use the backboard from range." - Charlie Custer
by SmittytheCutman on Dec 5, 2011 12:54 PM EST reply actions
I've been watching fights since 1947 and I have only seen a few that were worse.
"Boxing is the red light district of sports."
—Jimmy Cannon
That should've been done after six.
And I can’t believe why the ref would find that the right thing to do would be to just pluck her out of the ropes and let her immediately continue like nothing happened. She probably didn’t have a clue where she was at that point.
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