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The greatest, Muhammad Ali, said in 1967: "They say when you get hit and hurt bad you see the black lights — the black lights of unconsciousness. But I don't know nothing about that. I've had 28 fights and 28 wins. I ain't never been stopped."
Tim Tszyu said on Sunday: "Every time I step into the ring, I'm willing to die here."
Boxers are warriors, but sometimes they need saving from their bravery lest they see the ultimate black light.
Tszyu's loss to Russian Bakhram Murtazaliev was akin to a late-night street bashing.
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It was horrendous to watch and it should have been stopped earlier than the third round.
The Australian was so badly hurt by his first two knockdowns he became a punching bag.
Letting him get dropped four times before his brother Nikita threw in the towel was a dangerous absurdity.
There were signs Tszyu was outmatched and in danger
Tszyu kept getting up, but Murtazaliev kept knocking him down. (Getty Images: Alex Menendez)
Murtazaliev is taller and has a longer reach than Tszyu.
Tszyu came into this bout after his first bloody defeat, to American Sebastian Fundora.
The Russian came in undefeated.
Ricky Hatton, the boxer who ended the career of Tszyu's father Kostya in 2005, once said: "Undefeated fighters are always dangerous because they don't know they can be defeated."
So it is with Murtazaliev, whose superior power was obvious when he took Tim Tszyu down with a wind-up left hook in the second round.
Tszyu stood quickly but was unsteady, eyes glazed: on resumption, he staggered back, low hands, throwing punches, not yet beaten.
Then came another Russian left hook, this time straightening before contact. Tszyu went down again.
Now he had rubber legs, which brought recollections of his old man's fight against Zab Judah in 2001.
Kostya Tszyu famously hit Judah with a dynamite right, felling the American, who bounced up before staggering and toppling.
The referee called the match off as Judah tried to argue he was OK to continue.
ESPN boxing analyst Max Kellerman said the stoppage was premature.
"I am not convinced that Judah would have lost the fight had he been allowed to continue," Kellerman said.
"In the past, Zab has demonstrated the ability to come off the canvas to score knockout wins."
On the other hand, the referee's decisiveness might have protected Judah from further injury.
Loading...In the case of Tim Tszyu being hammered by Bakhram Murtazaliev, there was more savagery to come.
Tszyu tried fighting back, throwing bombs from memory — showing the audience the size of his heart — but his legs were all but gone. He looked drunk trying to evade Murtazaliev.
The fight might have been reasonably stopped by referee Chris Young with 15 seconds to go in the second.
Instead, Tszyu was knocked down for the third time.
The bell sounded and Young tackled Murtazaliev before he could strike again.
No longer a fair fight
A doctor inspected Tszyu in the break, using the follow-my-finger test and shining a torch in the boxer's eyes.
The fight continued in the third with Tszyu giving no indication he knew what was happening.
This would be confirmed after the contest, when Tszyu said in a slurring interview: "What the f*** just happened? What did I get hit with?"
After Tszyu's fourth knockdown, referee Young warned him: "One more time, the fight's over."
The rest — including another right-hand bomb that sent Tszyu sprawling into the ropes — appeared cruel. Then came the towel.
A review of the officials' decision-making should be held by the International Boxing Federation: it was obvious that Tszyu could not protect himself and had no chance of making a comeback after the second round.
It is not pedantic to review the timing of stoppages in a sport that can be deadly.
Ten years ago, Queensland boxer Braydon Smith died in hospital after a fight. Five years ago, Dwight Richie, once an opponent of Tszyu, died after a sparring session in Melbourne. And in July, Lemuel Silisia died just days after going the distance in his maiden title fight.
Thankfully, Tim Tszyu was taken to hospital in Florida and has been cleared of "serious trauma".
Speculation about his future is a bit of a worry.
Instead of agreeing to another fight overseas or at home, he should retire.
The 29-year-old's bold and admirable attempt to become one of the world's best pound-for-pound champions — like his father — has fallen short: he'll never be the same after such a beating.
Thankfully, promoter Matt Rose is circumspect.
"He'll rest up for a couple of days now," he said.
"Once he gets back to Australia, we'll do some more testing to make sure he's OK. The most important thing when you're in fights like that is to ensure you do the right check-ups."
At least Tszyu deserves a long break, and the next time he gets into trouble in a ring he should, like all fighters, be given a more merciful way out.