By Nate Anderson: Former Commonwealth heavyweight champion Martin Rogan (12-1, 6 KO’s) will get a chance to avenge his 8th round stoppage defeat by Sam Sexton (12-1, 5 KO’s) when he meets the British fighter on October 9th at the Odyssey Arena, in Belfast, Ireland.

Their previous fight was marred by controversy when British referee Dave Parris stopped the action in the 8th just as Rogan had Sexton badly hurt and ready to go and took Rogan over to the ringside doctor to have him examine Rogan’s badly swollen left eye.

The fight was then stopped at 2:37 of the round. The stoppage in the action seemed to come at a worst time, right when Rogan had Sexton staggering around the ring and on the verge of a knockout. To a lot of boxing fans, they felt that Rogan at least deserved the chance to finish out the round instead of having it stopped when he was in the process of going after a knockout.

Sexton, 25, had dominated the older 38-year-old Rogan for most of the fight, using a hard jab, movement and clinches to keep from getting hit by Rogan’s big uppercuts and hooks.

The referee got in the way of the action in the 8th prior to the stoppage for the stoppage for the doctor to examine Rogan’s eye when the referee stepped in to give Rogan a needless warning about throwing a rabbit punch. Sexton, who was taking terrible punishment in the corner, turned completely around in what appeared to be an effort to get Rogan to stop punching.

And, of course, Rogan wasn’t going to stop punching and landed a short to the back of Sexton’s next. Instead of giving Sexton a warning, the referee seemed to get confused about what had just occurred and took a time out to give Rogan the warning about throwing a rabbit punch.

The timing of the warning was crucial because it pulled Rogan off of the badly hurt Sexton and gave him more time to recover. Later in the round, Rogan made the mistake of backing off of Sexton after the British fighters’ mouthpiece fell out. This act, along with the referee’s stoppage of the action, may have cost Rogan the fight, because it gave Sexton a chance to have Rogan stop pummeling him for a few important seconds in the round.

There’s little question that Sexton would have been knocked out in either the 8th or the 9th if the fight had been permitted to continue. Sexton was badly tired and pretty much out on his feet at the time of the stoppage in the 8th. Prior to this fight, Sexton had never gone beyond six rounds and had looked exhausted in a 6th round TKO defeat to Derek Chisora a year earlier in June 2008. It was expected that Sexton would tire out by the 7th and 8th rounds, and that’s exactly what happened.

Rogan vows to start faster next time out and that he won’t be giving any courtesies to Sexton if he loses his mouthpiece.