Riverdale, MD heavyweight Horace "The Reason" Grant almost gave a major shock to the audience in the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas as well as a nationally televised ESPN2 audience by dropping opponent Kevin "Big Man" Burnett in the eighth and final round.
But the bulk of the bout belonged to the Augusta, GA native Burnett and he went on to defeat Grant by a unanimous decision. Grant suffered a technical knockdown in the third round when he was battered into the ropes and referee Joe Cortez called the knockdown.
Grant had a moment in the fourth round when he landed some solid punches on Burnett but Burnett controlled the rest of the bout until Grant landed a thunderous right hand that dropped Burnett at the bell to end the bout. Burnett was able to beat Cortez's count and preserve his victory.
With the loss, Grant's record falls to 12-2, seven KO's. Burnett is now 13-1-1, eight KO's.
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13 comments:
One thing I don't get: I didn't see all of the last round, but was there another KO? And if not, what happened to not being saved by the bell?
And Tessitore or Atlas don't know about basketball: if the shot goes off before the buzzer, and goes in after the buzzer, it still counts.
Man was i looking at another fight or what, the knockout was on the money but, i think grant won that fight by knockout, unless my count of 10 was wrong, but from the time he landed til the time he got up it was more than 10 seconds, The Mechanic, maybe i saw wrong let me know
If Mildrick Taylor had Joe Cortez as the referee (versus Richard Steel) in his fight (many years ago) against Chavez, what a difference that would have made! What’s the point? Grant’s “last second punch” last night should have won him that fight! QUOTE: “You can not be saved by the bell (including the final round)”. What does that mean? Richard Steel believed that you must be on your feet and able to continue or you lose. It’s not enough to just be on your feet. Steel looked into Mildrick’s eyes didn’t like what he saw and said “that’s it – you’re done”. It didn’t matter that the fight was done as well. Steel’s point was that “Mildrick, YOU are done”, so I am stopping the fight! Steel took a lot of heat for that call many years ago. I was among the folks who gave him heat! So now we fast forward. Same state, same commission, different ref.
Cortez had a guy in front of him last night who could not take a step or know whether he was in the Thomas Mack Arena or at the Hoover Dam as Cortez reached “9 and-a-half heading toward 10”. Yet, Cortez never said 9 – 10, you’re out! Cortez would have taken heat for counting Burnett out. No one will make a big deal out of how that fight was resolved (except maybe ME). To be fair to Cortez, he took the safe and easy way out. It would have been much more difficult to defend a “Richard Steel type” stoppage. If you give the guy 12 or 15 seconds to get himself together, yeah, he’s fine at that point (or at least better). But at nine and a half, going toward ten, that guy was done. GRANT should have won by TKO at 3.00 of the eight round!
I remember Mike Weaver KOing Big John Tate for the heavyweight title in the last seconds of a 15 round fight years ago (Weaver was getting killed prior to the KO). You have to fight the whole fight. In football, I remember the guy on the Tennessee Titans stretching for the end zone and missing the touch down by one inch. The other team won the Super Bowl!
Was this guy cleaning Grants clock for most of the eight rounds? Yeap, big time! But to have the guy who is behind launch one final attack and pull it off with an explosive punch, only to have the ref “look the other way” and give the “out on his feet” guy the benefit of the doubt takes away from the effort of the other guy coming from behind.
For you track and field folks out there, does the name Dave Wattle mean anything to you? (Look him up – 1972 Olympics - 800 meters).
Gary, thanks for this site. Generally, I read more than comment, but I had to throw in my two cents after what I saw last night. Sure, Grant needs to start faster in his fights but last night, even with the slow start, he did enough, just barely enough, to get the win! That’s the way I see it.
Ten Count I’m Out!
Fight Doctor
Well said, I agree with you 100% Fight Doctor.
Darnell W.
In the Chavez-Taylor fight, the bell HADN'T sounded yet when ref Steele decided to wave it off to save Taylor from further punches. There were a few seconds left and Steele decided that Taylor was in no condition to continue. Steele commented that he didn't know how much time there was left in the round...
With Cortez counting over Burnett, the bell had already sounded so the issue of Burnett being able to continue or not was moot. Cortez, unlike Steele, had no need to make that judgement call anymore.
And the idea of counting the effort of a come-from-behind fighter should have NO BASIS on the ref's final call. So what, if a fighter comes from behind and finishes strongly, you should give him two point rounds?... NONSENSE... that's a purely emotional call favoring a come-from-behind fighter...
And it's not even like Grant put a whole lot of effort into it. If he'd a fought harder, he coulda stopped that guy way earlier, but he's been in there with too many bums and hasn't really learnt anything and almost got embarrassed on National TV.
That was a wild scene to end the fight and something I have never seen in all the years I have been watching boxing. A huge shot right at the bell which drops the fighter for 9 1/2 seconds! WOW! I wanted Grant to win the fight but he just didn't throw enough punches. Kudos to referee Joe Cortez for handling the situation exactly as he should. Let's face it, there's theory and then there is practice and this was the real thing when it came to "the bell can't save you in any round". Burnett got dropped, he was badly hurt, the referee recognized the situation and knew the fight was over. Burnett beat the count (but barely) and the fight goes to the scorecards. Joe Cortez got this one right. I doubt the Joe Coopers, Chris Wollensens, Malik Walids, and Kenny Chevaliers of the world would have performed as well faced with the same situation. Just my opinion.
The opinionated one!
I'm a "little" biased, because Ray is a good friend that was in the gym when I started boxing.
Dammit, he coulda had this guy much earlier. :-/
Darnell
I guess it comes down to the definition of a “KNOCK OUT PUNCH”. If a knock out punch is one that renders the opponent incapacitated (or as my friend Henry Jones would say – Discumbobulated) long enough for a referee to reach the count of ten (I’m not even going anywhere near the ref’s “count of ten” versus ten seconds – that’s another whole show) before the hurt fighter is able to –in the eyes of the referee – once again defend himself, then that’s what Grant’s punch did to Burnett last night. Burnett was technically out on the canvas for a count of 8 and a half to 9 and out on his feet for an additional count of two or three. No matter how you slice it, a ten count came and went before Burnett could be regarded as having regained his mental and/or physical faculties. Cortez could have given Burnett, what I like to call “a fighter’s sobriety test”, as one last measure before punching out his time clock and calling it a day (in terms of his referee responsibilities). This may have been the fairest resolution (to both fighters) under this unique situation. “Burnett you OK? Step to me! You OK?” If Burnett responds, great send him to his corner to await the judges decision. Burnett would have, more than likely, passed this test (the sobriety test itself buys a few more seconds from the ref before the ref has to make a call). However, if Burnett doesn’t properly respond, well in my view the judges scores are a moot point because the sobriety test was failed and as a result, the other guy wins by TKO at the end of the fight. This “extra effort” on the part of Cortez would allow one of two things: the heart of the hurt fighter or the effect of the puncher’s punch to ultimately decide the outcome. In the last round of a fight, you can not be saved by the bell. Saved from what, the opponent? He can’t hit you anymore - the fight is over. Saved from the canvas? Just be up and on two feet, regardless of your condition, just be up and on two feet and you have met the requirement.
I remember Ken Norton almost getting killed by Gerry Cooney because “he was still on his feet”. OUT COLD AS HELL!! But still on his feet (sort of anyway, Kenny took four or five additional crushing, debilitating shots because his butt got stuck on the bottom rope and he didn’t go all the way down.
Throughout the history of boxing, plenty of fighters have been “out on their feet”, and a good number have been identified as such by the presiding referee and duly counted out!. When I think of, “YOU CAN NOT BE SAVED BY THE BELL IN THE LAST ROUND” I think of , “YOU CAN NOT BE SAVED FROM THE EFFECT OF A LEGALLY DELIVERED KNOCK OUT PUNCH EVEN IN THE FINAL SECONDS OF THE FINAL ROUND”. Your heart, character, guts, determination to overcome, and will power to survive must get you through this difficult and challenging moment. If you succeed, more power to you, if you fail “the sobriety test”, then the power of the KNOCK OUT PUNCH SHOULD PREVAIL!
That’s the way I see it.
Ten Count I’m Out!
Fight Doctor
Fight Dr.,
I respectfully disagree. Grant landed the huge shot at the bell and then the fight was OVER. Grant would not have been able to hit Burnett anymore in the round OR the fight. The referee Joe Cortez took that in to consideration when making this call. As long as Burnett made it to his feet before Cortez reached ten, it was the right call. The only way Grant should have been awarded the KO win would have been if Grant knocked Burnett out cold and it was obvious that Burnett wasn't going to get up at all. Or if Burnett struggled to his feet and then fell down again before Cortez reached ten. I'm sure you saw the whole program in addition to the Grant fight. Remember when they were showing Marvin Hagler highlights earlier in the show? Remember when Hagler dropped Willie "The Worm" Monroe and he was very unsteady on his legs? Well in that particular situation the stoppage was warranted because the round was not over and the fight was not over. Regardless of what Richard Steele said when he stopped the Chavez Taylor fight (which was a TERRIBLE stoppage) because Chavez wouldn't have been able to hit Taylor again in the fight, a referee should always take in to consideration the amount of time left in a round and what round it is. Richard Steele heard the ten second warning and he knew it was the last round, so the fight should not have been stopped. Grant had Burnett badly hurt, no doubt about it, but based on Burnett's body of work prior to Grant's bomb, the exact situation in which this unique event occurred, and the fact that Burnett beat the ref's count (not 10 seconds exactly but that's a different story entirely) the absolute 100% correct decision was made in a very unique and stressful situation. Excellent job by the referee Joe Cortez. I'm sure Meldrick Taylor wishes you were the 3rd man that night in his first fight with Chavez and not Richard Steele!
Here’s (probably) my last comment concerning this intriguing subject. I ask again, when the rule states, “you can not be saved by the bell at the end of any round (including the final round) what does that rule mean? Saved from what? Saved from who? My interpretation is that you can not be saved from the valued judgement of the referee regarding whether or not you just got knocked out! (Thanks HBO for your help on this one - great timing in helping me make my point). Just last night on the HBO BAD card Witherspoon was disqualified because his corner entered the ring after hearing the bell to signal the end of the third round. Chazz was all but knocked out at the end of the round and was on his feet (he “beat the count” if you will). But the refs job was not over at the moment. This ref gave Chazz a version of the “post knocked down sobriety test”. Why? Because if Chazz passes the test, he goes back to his corner to try and come out for another round of action. If Chazz fails the test (the one minute rest/recovery period and the next round become moot points BECAUSE KNOCKED OUT FIGHTERS DON’T GET TO COME OUT FOR THE NEXT ROUND!!!!) Chazz’s corner believed (incorrectly that their fighter had been “sort-a kind-a” saved by the bell). They didn’t need salvation from the ringing bell, they needed the “green light” from the referee (only then was the round over – only then would their fighter have a chance to come back out). The corner’s rush to get to their hurt fighter cost them a lost due to DQ versus KO in the next round, but it also demonstrated my point exactly in terms of what you can (or put another way - can not) be saved from! THE REFEREE’S JUDGMENT!! Why should the fighter who just knocked you out have to let you rest one minute just to knock you out a second time (all over again) in the next round? It’s not fair to the winning fighter and it’s not safe for the hurt fighter either. Sure the hurt fighter may be able to come back, hurt the other guy and score a tremendous reversal. As a fan that’s always nice to see. History is full of bouts where one guy gets knocked out by a guy who (himself) was already knocked out – the ref just didn’t stop the fight in time to avoid the continuation which resulted in the exciting reversal. Exciting yes, but many times, not the right outcome if an earlier KO had technically already happened (and it just wasn’t called by the ref). If you can not be saved from the referee’s evaluation in between rounds, you can not be saved from the referee’s evaluation at the end of a fight as well. At the end of a fight if you pass “the sobriety test” following an end of fight knock down then let the judges decide the outcome, go to the score cards. If you do not pass the sobriety test, the judges cards become moot, because you were knock out at the end of the fight. The KOing fighter took the decision away from the judges – with his fists – albeit at the very last possibility to do so. This last possibility to win via the KO should not be taken away from boxing. What would MARCH MADNESS be like without the last second shot?
The Count _ I’m done.
FD
Fight Doctor-
Take this for what it's worth, but the difference between that fight (which I didn't see) and the Grant fight was one was at the end of a round, the other was at the end of the fight...
Fd the the ref in the Chazz Witherspoon made a mistake. First off on the Ref can stop a fight not the corner. His cornernever came in the ring they just got on the apron. Now you know from sitting at ringside that 10 seconds before the end of the round the corner is headed up the stairs. He could have warned them and allowed the fight to continue. Now for the bell can ot save you even in the last round. If the Bell has rung then when the boxer gets into a standing position then the fight is iver. No soberity test because it's over. Even during earlier rounds if a boxer is knocked down and gets up after the bell rings you will allow the 1 minute rest and evaluate the boxer at the beginning of the nextround. Now this is coming from a official who is certified and licensed in multiple states. Now your only point is that really if there is a knockdown you should not ring the bell but in defense of timekeepers which I also am you do not see the last seconds of a round. The last seconds of a round you are looking at the stopwatch and not the ring. Next fight look at the timekeeper and you will see that they are not looking insde the ring.
Fight Doctor: There seems to be some uncertainty as to the exact meaning of being "saved by the bell".
Being "saved by the bell" means that in the event of a fighter getting knocked down at the end of the round, and the bell rings during the count, or during the ref's "sobriety test", then the ref stops counting or stops administering the "sobriety test" immediately and the fighter can make his merry way back to his corner or be assisted back by his cornermen and ALLOWED to continue as if nothing had happened.
Someone, possibly a rare breed of boxing hunamitarian, figured out that this was bad news for fighters that were actually KO'd cold at the end of a round but got a second chance by the action of the bell stopping the ref's ten count.
It became obvious that such a fighter should not be allowed to recover during the one minute break to continue to take more punches.
Hence the rule that you "cannot be saved by the bell" at the end of the round.
Unless it was the last round. Then the ten count could be interrupted by the fight-ending bell thus saving a fighter like Grant's opponent the moment he hit the canvas. The bell would ahve indicated that the fight was over and the ref's work was also over.
But someone else figured this would be vastly unfair to a fighter like Grant whom, if he had actually completely starched the guy, would have been denied a KO victory. And it would stop the spectre of seeing the winner on points being carried out on a stretcher.
Hence, the now widely accepted current form of the rule, "cannot be saved by the bell even in the last round".
It has NOTHING to do with how badly hurt a fighter is or whether one fighter or the other was coming from behind.
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