By Eric Thomas: Making his first appearance in 14 months, Anthony Thompson (23-3, 17 KOs) was defeated by Ishmail Arvin (15-1-4, 7 KOs) in a six-round TKO when referee Malik Waleed stopped the fight following the end of the 6th round due to a large cut over the left eye of Thompson. Waleed, however, failed to notice that the cut had occurred in the 3rd round from a clash of heads, and instead of ruling it as such, which would have meant that the fight would have been stopped and gone to the cards, (resulting in Thompson being rewarded the decision because he was ahead in the fight at the time of the stoppage) instead Arvin was given the TKO victory because Thompson couldn’t continue.
The referee was later shown video by the ESPN camera crew of when the cut occurred, showing that it had in fact resulted from a head butt in the 3rd round. Waleed then took that information to the ringside boxing commission. However, because the referee didn’t see the head butt occur on his own, the outcome stayed as it was, with Arvin winning by a six-round TKO. Instant replay or video shown after a fight, can’t be used to change the outcome of the fight because this isn’t used in boxing at this stage, so it comes down on what the referee sees – or fails to see, in this case – with his own two eyes. As such, Thompson, who clearly should have won the fight based on the fact that he won every round of the bout, hurting Arvin on a number of times in the fight and knocking him down twice in the 3rd round.
The result, however, may end up being overturned on appeal by Thompson as it seems a pretty much open and shut case that the cut was caused by a head butt and not a punch. However, it’s unfortunate that the referee missed the clash of heads, because all of this could have been avoided if he had seen it. But, what comes of this fight, though, is perhaps the need for changing to occur in boxing, because it seems that in cases like this, there needs to be instant replay – or at least replay that can be used after the fight to determine what really happened.
With every fight meaning a great deal for each fighter, and with boxing careers on the line, it’s imperative that decisions like this be made with the most accuracy as possible so that a fighter isn’t penalized by a missed call.
Thompson, 27, hurt Arvin with a big left hook near the end of the first round, causing his legs to buckle momentarily. Thompson continued fighting well in the second and third rounds, nailing the slower, weaker Arvin with big shots at close range. Instead of using his height and reach to his advantage, Thompson let himself be crowded by Arvin during much of the round and was forced to throw punches without being able to use his leverage.
Still, though, Thompson did remarkably well, hitting Arvin with some excellent shots and hurting him often with power punches. In the 3rd round, both fighters banged heads together near the start of the round, causing a big gash above the left eye of Thompson. However, he almost immediately hurt Arvin with a big right hand, and then dropped him with a left hook.
When the action resumed, Thompson continued to tag a staggering Arvin with big shots, then dropping him a second time in the round, this time by a left jab. Hardly able to walk, Arvin staggered back to his corner like a drunk at the end of the round. The fight probably should have been stopped at this point because he was unable to stand on his own without staggering and was taking a beating by the superior Thompson.
In rounds four through six, Thompson used Arvin’s head as target practice, hitting with big uppercuts and hooks and continuing to hurt him. Arvin rarely threw anything back and was totally being dominated by Thompson, who for his part, looked as if he was fighting at half speed.
In the end of the 6th round, the referee stopped the fight because of the cut on Thompson’s left eyebrow. However, because of the fact that he hadn’t seen the clash of heads, it effectively gave Arvin the TKO victory. Obviously, there badly needs to be a rematch because the outcome was marred by the cut and the missed call. Thompson looked great, much better than he did in his last fight against Yuri Foreman, who he had to chase around the ring for 10 rounds. In that fight, Thompson should have been given the decision due to all the running that Foreman was doing, but instead Thompson lost by a 10-round split decision.