In a bizarre boxing match for the Women’s Boxing Organization junior middleweight (154 pounds) title, Dakota Stone lost by TKO to Hanna Gabriels.

The referee stopped the fight near the end of the eighth round. Gabriels landed a left-right-left combo to Stone’s face when the referee, Geno Rodriguez, stopped the fight with 40 seconds remaining.

It was a long trip for little reward for Stone, a Clinton resident.

Gabriels kept her title and sent Stone home empty handed and full of questions about why the 10-round bout was cut short. A post on Women’s Boxing Archive Network quoted the Boxing Channel commentator Al Bernstein as calling the ref’s decision, “The most bizarre stoppage I’ve ever seen.”

“What on earth was Geno Rodriguez thinking? I have no clue at all.”

Stone was lucid, defended herself and did not hit the mat. Her eyes were swollen, but she could still see.

Rodriguez defended his decision to Bernstein after the fight. He said Stone had taken too much punishment, and specifically, too many hits to the head.

In a video segment on the Boxing Channel’s website, Gabriels said she will give Stone another shot at the title.

“The taste in our mouth is not that sweet,” she said.