Veteran boxing referee Tony Weeks gave a stunning reason for his controversial stoppage in Vergil Ortiz’s win over Fredrick Lawson on Saturday.
Ortiz was pummeling Lawson on the ropes in the first round, and Weeks quickly stepped in to stop the fight and give Ortiz a first-round TKO victory.
Many, including both fighters, thought it was a premature stoppage, however.
Weeks later revealed that a scan before the fight showed that Lawson had a brain aneurysm, which was the reason for his extreme caution before another test came back negative and allowed him to fight.
“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,” Weeks wrote in a since-deleted Facebook post. “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 told DAZN that he saw Lawson’s eyes roll into the back of his head.
Golden Boy Promotions, which promotes Lawson, disputed Weeks’ claims.
“Fredrick Lawson was cleared by a Nevada State Athletic Commission sanctioned doctor to fight on Saturday night,” Golden Boy said in a statement. “All other questions should be referred to [Nevada State Athletic Commission].”
The Nevada State Athletic Commission released its own statment on Monday regarding the stoppage.
“The health and safety of the unarmed combatants in the State are paramount to the Commission,” the NSAC said in a statement. “All the contestant in the event were subject to full medical examinations and were cleared by medical experts to compete without restrictions.”
Lawson protested the stoppage vehemently, and even Ortiz thought it was wrong.
“I think that he got saved,” Ortiz said. “I was hurting him with all the jabs. I wasn’t really putting anything behind it. … I love to fight. I wish I could have kept going. I need the rounds.”
The loss dropped Lawson to 30-4, while Ortiz maintained his perfect record, improving to 20-0.
And Weeks’ decision meant Ortiz has stopped all 20 opponents he’s faced.
NEWS CREDIT
