Lost in the shuffle over this recent busy period of combat sports was a very serious incident that occurred on Friday night.
In the co-main event of the Top Rank on ESPN+ card in Maryland, Russian junior welterweight contender Maxim Dadashev (13-1, 11 KOs) lost a title eliminator against Puerto Rico’s Subriel Matias (14-0, 14 KOs). What started out as a competitive bout turned into a one-sided affair in Matias’ favor. The 11th round in particular saw Dadashev hurt multiple times, his legs exceedingly unsteady, but he never went down. It was by far the most obvious round to question whether or not Dadashev should continue, and ultimately his trainer Buddy McGirt made the call to stop the fight, much to the protestation of “Mad Max.