In a rather predictable end result, top ten light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera (19-1, 14 KOs) stopped maybe not top fifty light heavyweight non-contender Paul Parker (8-2, 4 KOs) in the fifth round on HBO Latino Saturday night. This fight was only marginally more competitive than I thought it would be and the end record played out to script, but I actually strongly disagree with the ruling that led to the finish.
If nothing else, Paul Parker is a very tall, lanky fighter. He is also a competent pro, if not someone who will turn into a notable fighter. He was able to use this basic competence and physical advantage to occasionally land long, clean right hands on his much more accomplished opponent. I don’t think he won a round necessarily, but he was there and competitive for almost three rounds. His best moment was a pretty big right at the end of the first. At the end of the third, however, Barrera landed a big right that seemed to really shake Parker mentally.
Round four saw Barrera begin to assert himself as his comparatively inexperienced opponent seemed to lose confidence, but it was not clean work that became the story. Late in the fourth, Barrera lunged in for a big right hand body shot. It connected, but much more notably his head connected directly on the chin of Paul Parker. The headbutt turned Parker’s head exactly like a power punch would and he collapsed to the canvas. When he arose he was given five minutes, but he was clearly hurt and could audibly be heard telling the doctor he was dizzy.
The fight should have been stopped here and ruled a no contest. First and foremost, a fighter who complains of headaches or dizziness needs to immediately be pulled from a fight. Every few years we have a tragedy in the sport and these are universal symptoms in these cases. Also, as a sporting event, the fight was no longer fair. Parker had been seriously damaged by a blow outside of the rules of the contest. From that point he had to continue on in the bout on shaky legs.
Parker escaped the last few seconds of the fourth, but in the fifth he was clearly still affected by the accidental foul. Another headbutt hurt him again, but not as badly. After that the sort of right hand the Barrera had been landing to minor effect prior the the foul suddenly dropped Parker and finished the fight.
I am certainly not arguing for anything along the lines of a rematch. This was a stay busy matchup for Barrera that he would always win. He was going to win this bout without the foul and it certainly wasn’t intentional. What I am arguing is that the wins and losses should not be on the record. Paul Parker was clearly badly damaged by an honest, accidental foul. He then complained about dizziness which was pretty visible in the moment as he stood unsteadily. In my view this was a textbook no contest, but I guess the point was to build Barrera’s record a bit so he gets the W.
