Australian boxing great Jeff Fenech has slammed the referee's "disgusting" officiating during Wednesday evening's cruiserweight bout between Freddy Lussick and Taylan May.
Fighting on the undercard of his brother Darcy's bout against Paul Gallen, Lussick's introduction to professional boxing was a vicious affair, with the 20-year-old copping 89 blows to the head in his four-round bout with May — which equated to about one punch to the noggin every six seconds.
When the Sydney Roosters young gun retired to his corner after the first round, blood was smeared across his lips after May landed several well-directed jabs to the face.
Lussick bravely powered through to the third round, where May continued peppering him with a flurry of punches — however, the Penrith Panthers recruit was undeniably tiring.
In round three, Fenech said on commentary: "He didn't need to take these 300 punches he's taken already, especially when you don't know how to take a punch or how to ride a punch.
"The referee is disgusting at the moment. My god, mate they're football players."
Soon after, both fighters were deducted a point for separate offences — Lussick for putting his opponent in a headlock and May for repeatedly ducking.
"The ref's lost all control," Fenech added.
"They don't need to go through that. We talk about looking after people. He won't cop that in 30 football games. In 50 football games, he's not going to get hit that many times.
"And we're trying to say we're looking after people? That's c**p – c**p by his corner, c**p by the referee.
"There's total nil care shown for the human being in this. I just don't like it, I don't like even sitting here watching it.
"They had a go, they had a dig – one guy was totally outclassed, let's leave it at that and let's stop it while we can and while we can look after their health."
May and Lussick exchanged a few more sloppy throws late in the fourth round before they were saved by the bell.
The Panthers youngster was proclaimed the victor by unanimous points decision, with judges scoring the dominant performance 38-36, 38-35, 39-35.
