Boxing referee Tony Weeks has been criticised for a "dirty" stoppage of Rolando Romero's WBA title fight with Ismael Barroso.
Romero was looking to make a mark at super-lightweight with the WBA title on the line against 40-year-old contender Barroso, who was hoping to get a final chance at glory. Barroso was comfortable on the judges scorecards in the fight having dominated from the opening bell, in addition to scoring a knockdown in the third round.
However things unfolded in controversial fashion, with Romero responding with an apparent knockdown of his own which official Weeks awarded, despite it appearing to be a shove. And the terrible luck for Barroso continued as he was stopped with 20 seconds left of the round as the pair exchanged, with his back on the ropes in the corner.
However the stoppage was considered to be very premature with the 40-year-old continuing to trade and fire back from the ropes, and even looked to be landing the more crisp work. The challenger was clearly stunned by the closing of the show and was left without anything to show for his dominance.
Fighters across the world reacted extremely negative to the early conclusion, with lightweight Ryan Garcia tweeting: "WOW THAT WAS DIRTY. WAY TO EARLY!" George Kambosos Jr responded, adding: "WTF was that! I don’t even care, Barroso is still my new favourite fighter even if he’s 63."
Heavyweight star Michael Hunter wrote: "Cmon Tony Weeks! Terrible stoppage. Not one single punch landed." While Caleb Truax provided a solution, adding: "If that result can't be overturned, boxing should just eliminate the protest and stop pretending like there is an avenue to get justice for horses***t calls from referees and officials like the one Tony Weeks just made."
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Undisputed champion Claressa Shields also weighed in on the debate, concluding: "Boxing took an L tonight. That s**t was pathetic. And Barroso is not 40, I don't care what you all say. Good night you all done ruined the GWOAT weekend."
After the fight the scorecards were released, which showed that Barroso was ahead unanimously according to all the officials prior to the stoppage. Romero even admitted himself following the end of the contest that his rival should have been allowed to continue as he battled on the ropes.
And the injustice was reflected in Barroso's comments following the final bell. He said: "I am fine. I think it was an injustice to stop the fight. I was landing the better shots. “The referee just stopped the fight and he didn’t say anything. You can see it clearly. I’m the one who’s hitting him. There was nothing clear that he hit me with. I don’t understand why they stopped the fight.”
