Referee refuses to stop fight, throws towel out of the ring

Cornerman throwing in the towel is a common occurrence in combat sports. The referee throwing the towel back out the ring however is not, but that’s exactly what happened Saturday night on Sky Sports Boxing.

On Saturday, Jeremias Ponce cruised to a 10th-round TKO over Lewis Ritson despite Ritson’s corner throwing the towel in after the first knockdown of the round. Ponce mixed up his attack, striking the head before landing a ruthless body shot, sending Ritson to his knees.

It’s here, following the standard 8-count, Ritson’s corner throw in the towel in a bid to preserve their fighters health. In scenes rarely seen in combat sports, referee Steve Grey tells the fighters to continue as Ritson continued to receive more damaging blows before throwing the towel from the ring. Moments later Ritson would once again fall to the canvas.

To everyone’s surprise, Lewis Ritson would show his toughness and get back to his feet once again. Unfortunately, Ponce would prove to much and dropped Ritson for the third time, leading Steve Grey to wave off the fight.

Jeremias Ponce was dominant throughout and thoroughly deserved the victory but questions will be asked as to why the referee allowed the fight to continue. The rules state that the referee can freely ignore the towel being thrown in, but with the fight finishing soon after it will interesting to hear a response and viewpoint from referee Steve Grey.

Whats your opinion on the matter? Was the referee wrong or right in this situation?

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