Kostya Tszyu under fire after brutal fight

Australian boxing legend Kostya Tszyu is under fire after his charge Denis Lebedev was brutally disfigured during a fight in Moscow last week.

Tszyu was in Lebedev’s corner when the Russian was stopped towards the end of the 11th round of his fight against Guillermo Jones.

Lebedev had suffered a cut under his right eye early in the fight, which had swelled incredibly as the bout went on.

Due to the extent of Lebedev’s injuries, critics have argued the fight should have been ended earlier.

Yahoo! UK blogger The Pugilist lead a chorus of criticism of Tszyu and referee Stanley Christodoulou, saying he was “very uncomfortable” that the fight was allowed to continue.

"Referee Stanley Christodoulou, an experienced referee, should know better – a lot better – than to take so many looks at the defeated fighter and allow him to box on, whether he runs the risk of disappointing the partisan crowd in Moscow or not," he wrote.

"Worse still, Kostya Tszyu – the man who quit on his stool in another hard-hitting war against Britain’s own Ricky Hatton in 2005 – was right there, in Lebedev’s corner, and allowed his charge to go to the penultimate round having spent half the fight in such a bad way.

"That made me sick, to be honest. An ex-boxer should REALLY know better."

The Pugilist’s blog came after both Tszyu and Christodoulou were criticised during the fight on social media.

What do you think? Should the fight have ended earlier? Leave your comment below