Jesse James Leija said all the right things following his technical decision win over Mickey Ward. He said that in his mind there was no winner, that the fight was just getting started when the referee ruled that it had to stop.

When a fight is stopped before the completion of five rounds as the result of a cut caused by an accidental headbutt, it is a frequently applied rule that whoever is ahead on the judges' scorecards at the time of the stoppage wins. Leija's corner brought the severity of his cut -- which because of its size and position over his right eye was indeed severe -- to the attention of the ringside physician, who then signaled the referee to stop the fight. Leija was clearly ahead in the fight at the time, and his corner knew it. Smart of them to set the stoppage wheels in motion.

Ward had taken a savage beating (largely to the body, a place where Ward generally doles it out). But Ward was picking up steam and seemed to shake Leija up a little more each round. Leija's cut was affecting his vision at the time the fight was stopped, and it would have likely gotten worse had the action continued. One more round in the books and a stoppage because of the cut would have made Ward the winner by technical knockout.

If the fight is allowed to progress, it is possible that Ward exploits Leija's impaired vision and outpoints or even legitimately knocks out Jesse James. There also must have been some real concern about the lasting effects that further damage to the cut may have had on Leija. These factors made it smart for Leija's corner to bring the cut to the attention of the doctor.

Just like it was smart of Hector Camacho Jr.'s corner to tell him to say he could not continue when he was cut as the result of an unintentional headbutt from none other than Jesse James Leija, about six months ago. Though the cut Camacho suffered against Leija was not as bad as the cut Leija suffered against Ward, still, had Camacho continued to fight, his cut would likely have worsened and might have led to a loss. Camacho was roundly criticized for his lack of heart after the Leija fight and some of that criticism may have been fair -- time will tell with Camacho. We all know Leija has heart -- the Ward fight showed that his corner has brains.

Leija-Ward was an excellent scrap. It was developing into a Fight of the Year-type war. Leija was dishing out a lot of punishment and winning the rounds, but Ward's ability to absorb that punishment and his refusal to yield kept him in the fight. Within each round there were shifts in momentum, and there was that ever-present, lurking threat -- Mickey's left hand to the body, which can end a fight at any moment.

At the time the fight was stopped, although Ward had taken a tremendous amount of punishment, the outcome was still very much in doubt. I have never seen Ward as hurt as he was at several moments during this fight, where it appeared that Leija had him ready to go. Meanwhile, in light of his performances in recent years against the likes of Ivan Robinson, Juan Lazcano and now Ward, Jesse James must still be considered near the top of both the lightweight and junior welterweight divisions. Leija's body shots against Robinson and especially Ward were savage -- some of the better body work of recent years.

One more point about the fight, and an important one -- I did not see any headbutt from Ward open any cut over Leija's eye in any of the replays. What I did see was a grazing Ward left uppercut that just nicked Leija. After that punch, the blood seemed to appear over Leija's right eye. If this was the case, and the referee indeed blew the accidental headbutt call, then it should be said that Ward got the short end of the stick. After all, if the ref rules that Leija's cut was caused not by Ward's head but by a punch, then Ward is the winner by TKO at the time of the stoppage. At any rate, this fight deserves a rematch. I'd love to see it.

Apologies

I must apologize to Diobelys Hurtado for insinuating in last week's column that he is boring to watch. He has turned in boring performances in the past, but he certainly did not this last Friday. His fight with Ricky Quiles was a good one, and Hurtado remains a strong -- if not always entertaining -- contender.

This week on Friday Night Fights we have flyweight Erik Morel defending his version of the 112-pound title against Alex Baba. There has been no clear-cut head of the flyweight class since Mark "Too Sharp" Johnson moved up and out of the division. Every fight Morel has on national television -- and he has appeared several times on this network and others -- is an opportunity for him to make the case for himself as boxing's biggest little man this side of Ricardo Lopez. And not that this has to do with anything in particular, but ain't Lopez grand? Every time I see him fight I think that I must be seeing what the old-timers saw when they watched Sugar Ray Robinson. Perfection.

You know, Lopez is only four pounds south of Morel...

Max Kellerman is a studio analyst for ESPN2's Friday Night Fights.