Tony Weeks Defends His Controversial Stoppage
Tony Weeks has hit back at the criticism he received for his stoppage in the Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Fredrick Lawson fight.
Ortiz had his first fight over 147 at a contracted weight of 156 pounds following his health scare. The boxer collapsed in the build-up to his fight with Eimantas Stanionis. The fight was then cancelled. It turned out the boxer could not make 147 any longer as he moved up. Ortiz silenced his doubters as he stopped Lawson in the first round.
That took his record to 20-0, with 20 knockouts. The stoppage came under fire as Lawson was on his feet. He took Ortiz’s numerous right and left hands, but he was covering up at the time and in no real danger of falling down. Now Weeks’ social media post, which has since been deleted, highlighted issues with Lawson’s state of health heading into the fight.
Weeks Reacts
“What the public didn’t know that prior to the fight they did a brain scan on him, and it came up that he had an aneurysm, and they did a test again and the same aneurysm came up. Another doctor was brought in and gave him the same examination and he tested negative for the aneurysm, so they cleared him to fight,” Weeks said
Weeks’ comments were backed up by the DAZN reporter, Beto Duran, who was ringside. Berto spoke with Weeks off-camera and relayed the following reasons as to why the fight was stopped.
“He stopped the fight because he saw the punishment. He saw that Fredrick’s eyes rolled back and there is no standing eight count, so that’s why he stopped the fight,” Berto stated
Response To Weeks
That got the attention of Golden Boy Promotions and the Nevada State Athletic Commission, who have since then issued statements as questions emerged over whether Lawson should have been allowed to fight in the first place.
“Fredrick Lawson was cleared by a Nevada State Athletic Commission-sanctioned doctor to fight on Saturday night. All other questions should be referred to NSAC [Nevada State Athletic Commission],” Golden Boy Promotions
“On January 6, 2024, a contest was held between Vergil Ortiz and Fredrick Lawson in Las Vegas, Nevada. The contest was under the jurisdiction of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The health and safety of the unarmed combatants that compete in the State are paramount to the Commission. All contestants in the event were subject to full medical examinations and were cleared by medical experts to compete without restrictions. “The Commission and its Executive Director (Jeff Mullen) will continue its ongoing practice of reviewing its official’s performance during and after an event,” Nevada State Athletic Commission spokesperson
Weeks’ History
This is not the first time Weeks’ stoppages have been criticized. He was accused of doing the same in the Rolando Romero vs. Ismael Barroso fight. The bout was for the vacant WBA 140-pound title, meaning any decision had more significance.
Weeks stopped the fight in round nine in favor of Romero who was behind on all the scorecards. Barroso was on the ropes but still on his feet, throwing punches in return. The decision prevented Barroso from getting an upset win to get the title at 40. But the Ortiz-Lawson stoppage shows there needs to be better protection for fighters.
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