I don't think the fight should have been stopped if the slip was called a knockdown. Yes Bradley fell over again before he got back up, but he was still throwing punches before the bell came. If there had been more time left in the round then I believe Bradley would have been stopped.
I wouldn't have stopped it as it was very close to the end of the round. Bradley was back on his feet, throwing punches.
I do believe however, that the slip should have been called a knockdown, and there should have been 2 knockdowns given in the 12th instead of one.
Tim went down or may have been pushed slightly while attempting to hold so there was no way it could have been a knockdown IMO. I don't know the exact rules for when a fighter can't get up on his own but I don't think too many people would have argued with Pat if he had called it after Tim stumbled backwards trying to get back up.
Having seen the replay again, Tim was wobbly but he was always responsive and seemed aware of where he was at all times. I'm sure he would have been able to respond positively to the ref it it had been a knockdown, but I don't know if the ref would have let him carry on or not.
Bradley did look out on his feet in the first and was pretty hurt throughout the second. I think he benefited from Pat Russell being a little trigger shy because of the heat he took with the Alvarado-Rios stoppage. A lot of people were very upset at that stoppage and said it was way too early. To his credit, Bradley was still winging shots even though he was getting the tar knocked out of him.
1) Something tells me Russell got some flack for stopping Rios/ Alvarado I. Because given his history I thought he'd stop this one. He didn't.
2) I would not have stopped it. I believe in giving fighters, especially title holders, every chance to recover..and it was so early in the fight.
If Pat Russell called the KD in the first round of Bradley/Provodnikov, do you think he would've stopped the fight since Bradley was clearly buzzed, his legs were bad, and he was falling all over the place?
It didn't look good, kinda like Tszyu/Judah. So I've got two questions..
1.) Do you think the fight would've been stopped if it weren't called a slip?
2.) Would YOU have stopped the fight if it was called a knockdown, and Bradley was staggering all over the place?
