Tony Weeks was the guest this week on Joe Cortez's YouTube show "Fair But Firm," discussing his job last week in the Canelo Alvarez vs Alfredo Angulo fight, which ended with a "controversial" stoppage in the 10th round.
Weeks and Cortez talk protocol, when to stop one-sided fights, and more in the 12-minute interview. Here are some snips in case you can't watch right now:
"At the end of the ninth round, I went over to the corner. I'm extremely concerned now. Mr. Hunter approached me and told me that he was going to give Angulo one more round, and if it continued to happen, he was going to stop the fight. While we were having our conversation, the doctor was evaluating Angulo.
"I approached the doctor, and the doctor informed me that he's taking too much punishment. At the next hard punch, stop the fight."
... "At that point, at the start of the 10th round, my mind was already made up. I'm going to stop this fight, I'm just looking for the opportunity to do so. Canelo threw a flurry of punches, kind of landed a little bit. I kind of hesitated, didn't step in, because it wasn't really that devastating. Threw a couple more flurries, then that one hard uppercut that Angulo never really saw, or couldn't see, and his head went back in a violent way. A very demonstrative type way. His eyes rolled back, and that was it."
... "To the fans, we as referees have a protocol. There are steps that we take in evaluating a fighter, and looking at a fighter, and knowing when to stop it, pull that trigger. Fights like this, where it's one-sided, and even though the fighter who's on the losing end is still fighting back, there's nothing on his punches, it's a very tough position for a referee to be in. Because you have to look for the opportune moment to stop that fight.
"When you're dealing with fighters, you're dealing with warriors. Angulo's a warrior. He's a fighter, he's a champion. But from what I saw at that point, there was nothing left in Angulo, and too many hard shots. The bad outweighed the good. There was no question that I had to stop the fight."