Ringside doctor Neil Scott explains why Ricardo Blandon's cut vs Rafael Espinoza had to end the fight

Dr Neil Scott, the ringside physician who advised that Ricardo Blandon could not continue against Rafael Espinoza in Riyadh on October 31, has defended the stoppage after it was criticised on the DAZN broadcast. Speaking to BoxingScene on Monday, November 2, Scott said the cut over Blandon's left eye went down to the bone and exposed blood vessels, and that "one more punch and he would have had an arterial bleed."

The stoppage

Espinoza vs Blandon was for Espinoza's WBO featherweight title on the undercard of Canelo Alvarez vs Christian Mbilli at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. According to The Ring, referee Janny Guzman halted the scheduled 12-round bout at 1:22 of the third round after the ringside physician did not like the look of a cut above Blandon's left eye, caused by a straight right hand from Espinoza.

Espinoza, the 6-foot-1 Mexican champion, improved to 29-0 with 25 knockouts and made the fifth defence of the title he won by upsetting Robeisy Ramirez in December 2023. Blandon, from Nicaragua, fell to 21-7 (14 KOs). He had replaced mandatory challenger Lorenzo Parra on about a week's notice after Parra was not medically cleared, The Ring reported. Espinoza was in control at the time of the stoppage.

The criticism

The ending drew criticism straight away. DAZN called it a "controversial stoppage" on social media, and Dan Rafael posted on X that it was "not a fight-stopping cut". According to BoxingScene, DAZN analysts Chris Mannix and Malik Scott, working from a studio in London, argued the fight should have gone on at least until the end of the round so Blandon's corner could work on the cut. They also questioned the doctor's boxing knowledge. When the bleeding eased after Vaseline was applied following the stoppage, more viewers said Blandon should have been allowed to continue.

What the doctor saw

Scott is a former chief medical officer of the British Boxing Board of Control and a surgeon who specialises in facial trauma. He was at ringside, just centimetres from the wound. BoxingScene reported that Blandon was first taken to the red corner by mistake before Scott examined him in a neutral corner.

"If we can, we will always give a corner a chance to work on the wound," Scott told BoxingScene. "Unless the injury is unmanageable."

"The first thing I realised was that I was looking straight into the bone," he said. "It was a deep laceration but that in itself is not necessarily a reason to stop the fight."

The bigger worry was where the cut was. BoxingScene said it sat just below the eyebrow, ran onto the eyelid and lay over the eye socket.

"I could see arteries and vein," Scott said. "All the brow muscle was torn down to bone and the supra orbital blood vessels were exposed. The white of his eye was covered in blood. He couldn't see. One more punch and he would have had an arterial bleed."

What's next for Espinoza

After the fight, Espinoza told DAZN he wanted to be more active next year after almost a year out of the ring. The Ring reported that he hopes to unify against WBC champion Bruce Carrington or IBF champion Angelo Leo, or to face Naoya Inoue if Inoue moves up to featherweight.