There were wild scenes in Phoenix on Friday night as Daniel Jacobs defeated Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in a super middleweight bout at the Talking Stick Resort Arena.
Chavez Jr quit on his stool in the fifth round. That was a decision which enraged an already wild crowd. Spectators voiced their disapproval at the fight ending so early and rained beer cans and other debris on Chavez Jr as he headed back to his dressing room.
As he was being interviewed after the fight, Jacobs was forced to dodge objects as they were thrown into the ring.
"This is so disrespectful, man," said Jacobs.
"They won’t let me enjoy my victory, baby!
"I’m from Brownsville, I never ran and I never will! But I’m gonna duck these beer cans."
😂 Danny Jacobs did more ducking and dodging from the fans than he did against Chavez Jr. #JacobsChavezJr pic.twitter.com/CdSdJLjVJv
— Boxing And Basketball (@boxingandbball) December 21, 2019
Speaking to DAZN after the fight, Chavez Jr said that a broken nose - which he claimed was the result of a dirty shot from his opponent - led to the early retirement. The 33-year-old Mexican had missed weight for the bout, going in 4.7 lbs heavy.
"I was fighting a good fight and getting closer," he said.
"One round before, I got headbutted. He cut me above the left eye and then he headbutted me again and fractured my nose. I was having a lot trouble breathing. I also received an elbow to the nose.
"I came over the corner and I just couldn't breathe. I swallowing a lot of blood. I felt I couldn't go on not breathing properly.
"He didn't beat me by fighting. He elbowed me, he headbutted me and the referee wasn't doing anything. He was fighting a dirty fight. There was no way I was going to be able to win this kind of fight. They didn't even take one point away. He would have been able to continue doing that dirty work."
Pandemonium as Chavez Jr leaves the ring. Bottles. Cans. Everything being tossed.#jacobschavez pic.twitter.com/ag6Mbu66eD
— Charlie Moynihan (@MoynihanCharles) December 21, 2019
Jacobs's promoter, Eddie Hearn, also told DAZN that he felt Chavez Jr should have fought on despite the injury.
"You could tell the right hand busted his nose as soon as he hit him," said Hearn.
"He had blood everywhere. But it's not a good look (quitting) when you're getting so much criticism anyway.
"The one thing that I wanted him to show tonight was heart. It always takes heart to get in the ring but sometimes you've got to go through a busted nose.
"They said he broke his hand and his nose but when there's that much pressure on you and everyone is waiting to potshot you, you've got to ride through that. He was doing well in the fight, I had it close.
"He busted his nose - it's boxing. It's hard for us to start criticising guys, we know what can happen in that ring. But, as you saw from the fans, the atmosphere was wild tonight and it got even more wild when Julio decided to call it a day."
Chavez Jr retires in his corner!
A bizarre ending! Chavez Jr retires after the 5th round apparently blaming a hand injury pic.twitter.com/GFTODeqv0I— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) December 21, 2019
