Portuguese MMA fighter Joao Carvalho sadly died last night following his participation at the Total Extreme Fighting event in Dublin on Saturday last. Carvalho suffered a third round TKO to Irishman Charlie Ward at the fight. Carvalho's health deteriorated after the fight, and was rushed to Beaumont Hospital where he entered a critical condition. Carvalho's team, Nobrega, confirmed his death via a Facebook post last night.
Charlie Ward's father, Charles Snr., appeared on RTE Radio One's Liveline this afternoon, where he offered his condolences to carvalho's family and confirmed that his son had told him that he had pulled his punches in the final round. The bout as stopped by the referee in third round following a flurry of nine punches delivered to the head of Carvalho by Ward, and Ward Snr. said that his son had relented in the ferocity of his punches, and believed that the referee should have stopped the fight earlier:
Charles told me there was no way he was hitting him hard in the last round, he knew he had him beaten.
The referee should have stopped that. It's a different sport than boxing...they know the consequences of the sport when they step in there...
He said that a child would have taken them [the punches], that I was stopping those punches because I knew I had him beaten.
He didn't go out to kill anyone. It's just one of those things. He went out to win his fight, but the referee could have been in a bit quicker as far as I'm concerned.
Ward Snr. says that his son is devastated, and when asked how his family are handling the tragedy he replied that Charlie's mother "is in bits". Ward's opinion that the referee could have stopped the fight earlier is one echoed by Conor McGregor, who said after the fight that referees "need to be on the ball a little bit".
Listen to the full interview here.
See Also: Timeline: The Events That Lead To João Carvalho's Tragic Death At An MMA Event In Dublin
See Also: What Went Wrong At The Total Extreme Fighting Event Saturday Night At The National Stadium?
