Bob Perez has to be one of the smoothest, calmest coaches that this game has, and always remains lowkey having been and being behind notable fighters such as Kevin Holland and Derrick Lewis.
Kru Bob Perez, who is no longer coaching Derrick Lewis, but remain amicable, is current coach to Lauren Murphy, Rafael Alves and Kevin Holland and other fighters on the roster.
He has been noted as Texas MMA Trainer of the Year, and is Co-Owner at Main Street Boxing and Muay Thai.
With his 30 years of experience in martial arts, it is no wonder why he made one of the smartest choices a fighters corner can make, which is to throw in the towel. Let a fighter live to see another day.
That is exactly what he did at the end of the 4th round!
Most MMA coaches want to see their fighters take damage like Michael Chandler, go out on their shield until the last punch then pat them on the back like job well done, unlike in boxing where it seems this concept is pretty simple.
If your fighter is not responding and getting pieced up on the feet? Stop the fight. If they cannot, or are not defending? Stop the fight.
We have sad this numerous times on here, it is not only on the responsibility of the referee to stop the fight. The corner has the power to make that decision as well.
There are 2 simple power structures for stopping the fight, and they fall on the ref, and the corner. Of course we know the doctor can stop the fight. We all remember “Doctah Stoppage” by Conor McGregor. But even the doctors act oblivious and let some questionable fights go on.
This year there have been many questionable stoppages that is not only the refs fault, but the fault of the corner.
The last time this year we had a corner stop the fight was Brunson vs. Cannonier where Brunson’s corner threw in the towel while Cannoniers was reigning down bows’ him. (shout out to Henri Hooft)
Bob Perez, potentially made a risky move, some fighters hold this as a grudge against the coach as they should let them die in there. We saw Deontay Wilder split ways with his coach Mark Breland over this same thing.
But as someone who started boxing at the age 8, Perez surely understands the shots Holland was taking, and his defense becoming less and less, the best decision was to stop the fight.
