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14th May 2018
02:51pm BST

"If she didn’t have right conditioning to fight, then the coach should have thrown in the towel for sure. I think my coach wouldn’t let me go through that. I think she really needs to surround herself with the people who want the best for her so she can evolve in her next fights. Unfortunately tonight he failed.”https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/995539305958445058
“Both us and our coaches agree with the decision made to go into the 5th round. We know Raquel more than anyone else and know if we let her give up on herself going into the last round she would have always regretted it. She fought with heart and grit until the end.”https://www.instagram.com/p/BiulolVng6W/?utm_source=ig_embed
“It’s important that a fighter loses with dignity, and I think that Raquel lost with dignity. She went out there and she got finished. She went out on her shield. I would have done the same thing because sometimes when you’re tired and you don’t think you have enough left, your coach’s job is to pull the most out of you and I think that’s what the corner was trying to do - not let her give up on herself, get her back in the game mentally. She lost, but she went out there, she could have quit at any point if she felt like she couldn’t hang in there.”
This story doesn't look like it will end anytime soon. It has brought up a much-needed debate about the role of coaches in the safety of their fighters.“She did get finished but if she really wanted to she could have just said, ‘I’m not gonna go out for the next round.' I think she was looking for her coach to give her the words of encouragement. ‘I want to be done.’ Yeah, but you’re not. And she got off the stool and went back out for the fifth round. She didn’t have to do that. Nobody tied her hands behind her back and shoved her out there.
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