INDIO, California — American referee Thomas Taylor, who pulled the plug on Filipino challenger Jayson Vayson’s title bid against Oscar Collazo on Saturday night, insists there was nothing controversial about the decision to stop the fight in the seventh round.

“It was a little weird. But in between the start of the round, the rest period, I went to his corner ‘cause I saw that he was taking additional shots, looked like he was getting a little discouraged,” Taylor told DAILY TRIBUNE.

“And I just told the cornerman, ‘Hey, you know your fighter better than anybody. How is he lookin’? He talked to his fighter and he said we are good to go and we start the next round. And then the corner ends up stopping the fight.”

The crowd in attendance at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino and those watching on television and online were shocked when Taylor stepped in to halt the contest at 1:41 of the round as Collazo was looking to dominate the underdog Filipino challenger.

But Taylor, who refereed last week’s mega fight starring Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez in Las Vegas, swears the decision made by Vayson’s corner was just right.

“And for me, the corner knows their fighter better than anybody, including the referee. Of course, they know him better than I do so I won’t never second-guess a corner wanting to stop a fight.”

Vayson’s cornermen include chief trainer Allan Alegria and manager Brico Santig, who both defended the decision to end the fight.

Even the California State Athletic Commission defended the outcome, saying “it was the right stoppage.”