"Does the referee not know that there's a mandatory eight count?" - Fans outraged after horrible stoppage in the Alex Winwood fight at the Commonwealth Games

In a video posted to Twitter, fans can see the terrible stoppage of the Commonwealth Games match between Alex Winwood and Patrick Chinyemba. Winwood is seen getting dropped by a right hand from Chinyemba, and after two counts from the referee, she waved off the match even though Winwood had easily gotten back to his feet.

The shock on his face was evident as he prepared to re-enter the match only to realize that it had been called off. This shock was not lost on fans either, who took to Twitter on his behalf.

Paul Cupitt stated:

"Horrible stoppage in the Alex Winwood fight last night. Does the referee not know that there's a mandatory eight count? Some people have no business refereeing fights, let alone at an international amateur tournament."

In a reply to Cupitt, Johnny Bell, another fan, added:

"There was no justification for that stoppage. Winwood reacted with a lot more dignity to the situation than I would have."

In addition to fan outrage, news commentator Jon Harker stated the ruling was absolutely impossible to believe:

"I find that impossible to believe. Absolutely impossible to believe. That fight should not have been stopped."

Australian Olympic bronze medalist Harry Garside also agreed the bout was called off too early but also pointed out that because Winwood looked away after getting back to his feet, the decision could have been left open to interpretation.

He said:

"That's heartbreaking for Alex. No way that's a stoppage."

When Alex Winwood spoke about the match after the fight, he stated:

"It was a pretty fast call. I won the first round, and I thought I won it pretty easily."

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Alex Winwood and Patrick Chinyemba's history

Alex Winwood is a 25-year-old amateur boxer from Bunbury, Australia who began boxing at 15. In 2019, he competed in the AIBA World Boxing Championships and won the national flyweight title.

Unfortunately, Winwood did not qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, but he solidified his spot in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games at the Asia and Oceanic Olympic Qualification event in Amman, Jordan. During the Games, Winwood faced Patrick Chinyemba, representing Zambia, in the men's flyweight division.

Chinyemba walked away with the win over Winwood, therefore ending his run in the Games in the 32nd round. After his most recent loss to Chinyemba in the Commonwealth Games, Winwood's record now sits at 13-11 with one win and one loss via knockout.

Patrick Chinyemba now holds a record of 7-2 with 2 wins by KO. Now that Chinyemba has advanced in the 2022 Games, he'll face 60-14-1 boxer Amit Panghal on August 6.

Winwood posted this photo to his Instagram in preparation of the Commonwealth Games: