Something I noticed about the GGG vs Lemeiux stoppage, was that it looked like Lemeiux gave the ref a pained look right before the ref jumped in. In that moment, I felt like he was looking to the ref for a stoppage. Could be wrong of course, but here it is in GIF:
When I saw it live I thought he initially wasn't sure if he should take another knee or not and got caught keeled over, ref didn't like what he saw and jumped in. Now that I see the gif, I still think he was trying to decide in the moment if he should go down again or not, but I think the reason he looked at the ref is that the ref made a movement right before that and Lemieux saw him out of his peripheral and kind of paused to look, then the ref jumped in. He was taking an ass beating and the ref was getting jumpy on when to look for the stoppage. That ref is always looking like he gets queasy when guys are getting beaten up pretty bad, lol, he doesn't seem to enjoy the hurt part of the hurt game, the anti Smoger, I guess. Also, now that I keep watching it, notice that GGG sees him keel over and makes sure to keep his distance so if Dave took another knee, he would make sure he wouldn't hit him when he was down again.
I don't know. To me, it looks like he winces in terrible pain and then looks over at the ref for some reason. I could see the ref interpreting that as, "I want out." I agree that the ref seems to be too emotionally involved. I actually think his facial expressions become a bit unprofessional.
Yeah, I imagine that's a tough place for a ref to be in when the guy is taking a beating then looks over at you. I get the ref's thinking there. Agree that the ref is too emotionally involved at times. Haven't rewatched it since, but I remember being surprised GGG didn't go back to the body right away after the kd. He seemed to neglect the bodywork a bit even after he had Lemieux hurt bad and was already getting burned upstairs with those jabs and counters. Seemed like he could've finished in the 5th if he just went back to the liver.
pfft Hitting a downed opponent is illegal, period. If Lemieux had played that up,Golovkin could have been DQ'd. He's lucky he wasn't in there with Hopkins.
