"I know both fighters are good punchers. I spoke with Kid Chocolate. I actually like both guys. They've both been through a lot of adversity. Kid Chocolate probably has a little less experience than Danny Jacobs, but things happen in boxing. I'm proud of both competitors, but I think they stopped it a little too early," stated retired undefeated former pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather, who shared his thoughts on Daniel Jacobs' 1st round stoppage of Peter Quillin. Despite the fact that he didn't expect the fight to go past 9 rounds, in Mayweather's opinion, the referee should have given Quillin an opportunity to continue instead of stopping the fight shortly after Jacobs had him rocked and on unsteady legs.
"As a fighter, you can't take anything away from Danny Jacobs because he went out there and done what he had to do. In the shoes of Peter Quillin, no one can tell him not to be upset because he worked so hard. He's been down before and he's been hurt before. The same thing with Danny Jacobs; he's been down before and he's been hurt before. If you go look at Jose Luis Castillo and Diego Corrales, go look at that fight. Look at Arturo Gatti's fights. Safety is very, very important, but I think it was stopped a little bit too early. When I watched the fight, Danny Jacobs hit him with a good shot and he hit him with another good shot. He staggered and I'm thinking the referee is going to grab him and start counting. You basically could think he's about to give him an 8-count, but he jumps in to stop it," Mayweather explained, citing examples of other fights where it looked like a fighter was on the verge of being knocked out, only to see them recover and come back to win. Mayweather also referenced one of his own experiences when he appeared to be badly hurt, but was able to regroup and turn the fight around.
"They should have used a referee that's refereed a lot of championship fights. A guy works so hard to get to that point just to get hit with a couple of shots, get the rubber legs, the spaghetti legs; I mean, it's not really bad to take a knee, but he didn't go down, and then for a referee to hop in and stop it? You know, go look at the highlights of my fight with Shane Mosley. When I was fighting Shane Mosley, I got hit with some vicious shots. My legs buckled twice, but I gathered myself and regrouped because they gave me a chance. I'm glad that the referee gave me a chance and an opportunity. If the referee didn't give me a chance or an opportunity, then I wouldn't be TBE in today's time. It would have tainted the TBE legacy," Mayweather continued during a conversation with FightHype.com.
He added, "I would've rather seen the guy down on the canvas, knocked down, get back up, and knock him down again, but we didn't get a chance to see that. But we can't take anything away from Danny Jacobs. Congratulations to Danny Jacobs. He did his job. Peter Quillin, hold your head up high, champ. You're a champion too. Danny Jacobs, only thing you can do is to continue to go out there and do what you do. You beat all odds. Both guys have very interesting stories. Both of you guys are champions and you guys will meet again in the future. Shit happens. It's boxing. You win some, you lose some, but at the end of the day, we live to fight another day."
BE SURE TO CHECK BACK SOON FOR MUCH MORE FROM RETIRED UNDEFEATED FORMER POUND-FOR-POUND KING FLOYD MAYWEATHER
[ Follow Ben Thompson on Twitter @fighthype ]