"I think it's an error or corruption" - Joe Rogan agrees referee gave Tyson Fury a slow count in trilogy fight against Deontay Wilder
Joe Rogan is sure there was a slow count by referee Russell Mora when Tyson Fury was knocked down by Deontay Wilder during their WBC and The Ring championship bout last weekend.
The heavyweight trilogy ended with Fury coming out on top via an 11th-round knockout. 'The Gypsy King' hit the ground for a second time during round four and several fans and pundits felt Mora's eight-count was very slow.
Rogan has now joined the brigade. On his show The Joe Rogan Experience, the UFC commentator and stand-up comic brought up the issue:
"This is what happened. The referee is supposed to go one, two when the guy goes down. But for any reason he has to interrupt the count because the opponent needs to be told to go to the neutral corner. You're supposed to pick up the count where the ringside counter has it. So there's a guy counting ringside and he'll keep the count going. So if you're at one, two, go to a neutral corner. That guy's supposed to be like three, four, five. But he didn't. He went back to it. But the guy had already been down for a couple of seconds. Without a doubt, it was a long count... I think it's an error or corruption," said Rogan.
Watch Joe Rogan in conversation with Tony Hinchcliffe and Brian Redban below:
However, senior referee John McCarthy and many fans online pointed out an important boxing rule and came to Mora's support. The referee had to stop the count after seeing 'The Bronze Bomber' come out and put him in a neutral corner before resuming the count on a fallen Tyson Fury.
Eddie Hearn feels Tyson Fury has to beat Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk to be termed best ever
British promoter Eddie Hearn believes Tyson Fury has to defeat both Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk to be considered one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.
During a recent interview with iFL TV, Hearn claimed Fury might end up becoming like the last undisputed heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis. However, he also added that the Brit has defeated just one opponent for quite some time:
"He may become a Lennox Lewis, but to do it you can't just beat one guy in three years," said Hearn.
Here's what Eddie Hearn said:
Eddie Hearn on Tyson Fury: “Maybe he beats everybody and goes down as one of the great heavyweights of all time, but you have to beat the fighters of your era - Joshua, Usyk, Whyte… He may become a Lennox Lewis, but to do it you can’t just beat one guy in three years.” [@IFLTV]
Tyson Fury will next face the winner of the fight between interim WBC champion Dillian Whyte and Otto Wallin later this month.