Crumlin's Phil Sutcliffe Jr suffered the second controversial defeat of his career in Leeds earlier tonight, as referee Howard Foster - no stranger to premature interventions - stopped the Dub's entertaining clash with Middlesbrough's Josh Leather in the sixth round.
An extremely close contest might have been scored a round either way heading into the sixth (this writer had Leather up 48-47), with Leather landing the quicker sharper shots and peppering Sutcliffe with his jab, while the former Irish champion - a thunderous puncher - sat down on his more fleeting shots, as is his wont, but produced some solid work to the body in particular while applying pressure.
Indeed, after the fifth stanza, it might have been argued that the fight had turned slightly in Sutcliffe's favour, as Leather was hauled into a more rough-and-tumble-type affair and Sutcliffe began to find his range.
Instead, within just over a minute remaining in the sixth, the fight was stopped after two massive right hands by Leather in quick succession, the first which dipped the knees of his Irish opponent. Still, with Sutcliffe firing back between both shots, and still standing firm, the stoppage struck as extremely premature, and caught both fans and commentators by surprise.
Josh Leather v Phil Sutcliffe stoppage
"And Howard Foster has stopped it!"
Looked like a terrible, terrible call. WTF?— Kevin Byrne (@KevByrneBox) May 13, 2017
I don't think Sutcliffe was gonna win the fight but another very controversial stoppage from Howard Foster. Ruined a good fight.
— Roy O Brien (@royobr2) May 13, 2017
Time for Howard Foster to retire. Ruining careers here
— Michael (@BoxingFanatic_) May 13, 2017
Howard Foster has stopped the fight in another shocking decision. Sutcliffe was holding on. @joshleather91 is the new IBF European champion.
— FirstClassBoxing 🥊 (@FirstClassBox) May 13, 2017
BoxNation's Steve Bunce suggested referee Foster may have seen something in Sutcliffe's eyes which viewers may have missed from outside of the ring, going as far as to say that Sutcliffe might have been out on his feet - literally - for a couple of seconds. With simply no evidence of his hypothesis to go off, the overriding sense for Irish fight fans was one of immense frustration.
A disappointed Sutcliffe, however, exuded nothing but class in his post-fight interview. Sat next to his conqueror on the night, the Crumlin welterweight sincerely congratulated Leather on his performance and victory. He concluded that the fight should never have been stopped, but thanked Leather for his part in a cracking scrap.
A lesson in graciously dealing with a significant but hardly disastrous career setback from Sutcliffe, there. A rematch might well be in order down the line.
