‘Horrific refereeing’: Questions asked in boxing bout as referee REFUSES to stop fight despite corner throwing in towel (VIDEO)

Referee Steve Gray is under fire from some sections of the boxing community after he refused to call a halt to the fight as Jeremias Ponce unleashed a barrage of punches at Lewis Ritson, even as Ritson's corner threw in the towel.

UK fighter Ritson was dropped to the canvas on three occasions by Argentina's Ponce who established himself as the mandatory challenger to Josh Taylor's IBF super-lightweight title but while there are no questions as to the rightful victor of the fight, some fans were up in arms at the performance of the referee after he dismissed Ritson's corner's attempts to stop the fight in the 10th round.

In truth, Ritson, who came into the fight with a 21-1 record, was never really in the contest and came close to being finished in the first after Ponce landed punishing shots to the body. The onslaught continued in the following rounds, with the Argentine fighter seeing more successful body work in the second while also landing a stinging uppercut in the third frame. 

With the blueprint now very much established, Ponce poured on further aggression and by the eighth Ritson's face was showing signs of him being battle-weary.

The fight's most controversial moment, though, came in the 10th after he was dropped by another Ponce shot - and his corner, evidently having seen enough, threw the towel into the ring to signal to the referee that they wanted their man out of there.

However, Steve Gray instead opted to ignore Ritson's team's request and threw the towel out of the ring, inviting more punishment from Ponce. Gray's hand was eventually forced after Ponce dropped the Englishman twice more before Gray called off the fight. 

"Horrific refereeing," was the reaction of one boxing fan. "He should never work again. Did he have money on the points win or something? Something very strange about his actions there. Never ever seen that before and I've watched a sh*t ton of boxing over the years.

"The referee could have killed the guy.. sometimes it takes only a few punches. The ref should follow the rules," added another.

"The refereeing was an absolute disgrace what if Ritson had been seriously injured after the referee ignored the towel being thrown in by the corner the corner is there to protect their fighter but the referee ignored this and put Ritson's life at risk. Shocking refereeing," said a third.

Speaking afterwards, promoter Eddie Hearn was also critical of Gray's decision to keep the fight going after Ritson's corner had thrown in the towel, saying that the decision did little more than prolong Ritson's punishment in the ring.

"They've got some footage of Steve explaining it and he said because it was a body shot and you got up, I thought you should continue," Hearn said to Boxing News Online.

"Steve Gray's a very good referee but [Ritson was] not in the fight, not going to win the fight. So why? And actually it didn't affect anything in the end and it was fine but it could have.

"Because all he was doing was protecting his body so his head was wide open. Luckily he said he never got hurt to the head during the fight anyway."