‘Circus’ – Boxing referee sent tumbling to the canvas before stopping fight as fans left stunned

Referee Daniel Van de Wiele suffered an embarrassing moment as he touched the canvas himself during Jadier Herrera vs Ricardo Nunez.

Herrera and Nunez were duelling for the WBC interim lightweight title on the undercard of Agit Kabayel’s heavyweight showdown with Damian Knyba.

The raucous night in Germany produced a bucket of exciting and bizarre action including brutal KOs and controversial stoppages.

Earlier in the night, Tyson Fury’s brother Roman had won by stoppage, which in the eyes of the watching public was premature and was met with boos from the crowd.

But in theclash between the two talented 135lbs operators, it was the referee whose stoppage stole the show.

Referee’s slip before fight stoppage

Van de Wiele was in charge for an epic battle, which saw Nunez surprisingly on top in the early rounds, even dropping Herrera in the opening period in a moment of real adversity.

Herrera eventually started to take control of the contest and work his way into his rival, who was still trying to match him punch for punch.

But the eighth round brought total chaos as the former started to really push on and try to secure himself an early night.

Some big hooks from Herrera hit their mark as he marched his rival down and looked to get Nunez out of there.

As the referee attempted to try and step in and break the action, he was sent flying backwards and flat on to the canvas.

He bounced off the dominant fighter, and was desperately trying to climb back to his feet.

Eventually he clambered to his feet and didn’t take any more time to reassess proceedings.

He immediately waved off the contest to the amazement of Nunez, who felt he had recovered from the blows.

Herrera had already been celebrating, but the delay in the referee getting back to his feet had seen Nunez think he had regained his composure.

Ultimately it is now Herrera who moves on to bigger things, as he is now mandated for a shot at WBC champion Shakur Stevenson.

But he is unlikely to get it imminently, with Stevenson set to take on Teofimo Lopez when moving up in weight to 140lbs on January 31.

Fans’ reaction to the stoppage

Fans who watched on as the action happened, couldn’t believe their eyes.

One wrote: “I don’t know what was weirder, the fall or the stoppage.”

Another said: “What? What on earth is that?”

A fan added: “That needs circus music hahaha, hilarious.”