Boxer Willis Meehan pleads with referee to stop fight out of concern for battered opponent

Meehan was eventually declared the victor but only after Leamy Tato took a severe beating

A heavyweight boxer pleaded with the referee to stop a fight whilst simultaneously raining down punches on his opponent.

The bizarre scenes took place during a bout in New Zealand.

Australian boxer Willis Meehan was overwhelmingly in control of the fight, having backed his Kiwi opponent Leamy Tato into the corner. Tato was failing to show any resistance, brutally depicted by images of blood splattering onto the camera behind him as Meehan repeatedly punched him in the head.

It led Meehan to turn to the referee, telling him: "Stop the f****** fight."

Eventually the bout was ended, with Meehan immediately putting a concerned arm around his opponent. The victor could be seen expressing his anger with the referee that the fight hadn't been ended sooner.

Watch the incident in full below...

According to reports, the fight should have been stopped after the first round but was allowed to continue into a second.

"I think when the ref sees it’s an obvious outclassing he should step in earlier," Meehan said afterwards.

“But it’s the hurt business we are in. I got the job done and he’s safe, he’s on his two feet at the end of the night.”