When did you first become cynical of boxing?

[thaibox uk]

It seems to me that most of us if not all of us on here are very cynical
of our beloved sport what with all the poor promotions,bad matches,bad decisions,protected fighters etc etc.
So as a true lover of boxing at what point did you realise that the game was actually quite corrupt and was never really about the fans or the sport?
For me as a 44 year old the turning point was Sugar Ray Leonard manipulating two belts from the WBC for fighting Donny Ladonde.
This was a huge turning point for me and helped turn me into
the cynical boxing fan ive become looking for the worst in every match.
So to everyone on here what was your turning point?

[deadpan]

In British rings it was a fight were Scrap Iron Ryan was getting an absolute mullering (knocked down as well i think) and as soon as he landed a couple of decent shots in response the ref stopped the contest. The scales fell from my eyes then, and every subsequent woefully biased example of refereeing has hardened my heart. And there have been a LOT of instances.

The dawn of the WarrenBU belt didn't help either. Or the sudden phalanx of all-British 'world' title fights.

Oh and Herbie Hide-Damon Reed, where Sky had the temerity to display a chart of the fastest knockouts in World Heavyweight history after that gruesome 'sporting' debacle.

I could go on....

[banjo]

Funnily enough my moment involved "scrap iron" Ryan as well, it was the fight with Thaxton when he got sparked out in the first but Thaxton never got the chance to face him in a rematch for the title. I was 12 back then, so fairly early I'd say I became cynical.

[yiddo14]

Lewis/Holyfield and Brodie/Chi.

The latter was awful. Chi clearly won the fight, got the decision and the belt only for them to take it off of him once they doctored, oops I mean, re-checked the scorecards....Disgusting stuff.

[deadpan]

Brodie-Chi! Cripes, that was a stinker.

But then so was Brodie-Jorrin.

[damianhucker1]

mine was watching how fraudley "A-Farce " embarresment picked his way through fighters in early fights with tv and media saying things like another win in his learning curve when i actually i thought well to be honest that guy was awful , this is bearing in mind of only really been aware of how good domestic boxing can be for around the last 4 or 5 years so i had no idea who these guys were other than he was being cherry picked weak opponents and as soon as he fought his 1st danny williams fight i thought , "to be honest this guy is as bad as people are saying " when before i was thinking "lay off the guy he was great in the olympics and was our heir to lennox' thrown , how wrong was i ...

[Max Molyneux]

Late 06 watching Hatton fights.

[E]

Good question! I'm not quite sure when I got REALLY cynical.....but when I started to learn and watch a lot of boxing, I was really surprised that there were 3 organisations that claimed world champions.....

[DaveyH]

I think when the cocky, brash, brilliant Naseem Hamed worked his way up to the Number 1 contenders spot for the WBO super bantam title by beating no one of any real merit, then jumping up to Feather to fight Steve Robinson rather than take on Barrera for the super bantam title.
I was about 14 at the time and that was my first taste of a fighter being guided through the safest possible route, while banking millions, by one allegedly!

[DG.]

Sports Network from 2000 to now.

[DaveyH]

I think the majority of Sven Ottke's career also reinforced just how dodgy boxing can be. Particularly when he fought Robin Reid

[WildWaylon]

You reach a point in life when you become cynical of just about everything, politics, religion, you name it. A wise old lady once told me no matter how you feel dont pass it on to young people, they have to believe, they have to trust, they have to be optomistic, until with experiance and maturity they find out like you, the whole worlds corrupt. Boxing like everything else is also corrupt. It should be a case of, may the best man win and he often does only to be robbed of the decision. After more than half a century following boxing I have seen so many things that have upset me, I would be here all night naming the ones I most remember. Journeymen who have deliberately lost when they could have easily won when in against young up and comming hopefuls. Fighters who have dived when a punch never landed. Refs who have stopped fights in favour of the champion when there was no need to do so. Judges who have submitted rediculous scores in favour of the champion or the fighter with the biggest name. Certain countries where you have to KO your opponent just to get a draw. Promoters who claim they want their fighter to fight a particular fighter and then make excuses for why they were not able to reach an agreement, when all along they had no intension of making the match. Then there is the belts fiasco, padded records, fights that are a foregone conclusion, fights the fans want, but never see. Why do the bookies rarely get it wrong, do they get inside information? Do some fighters get a bonus for a poor performance? Why did I enjoy the boxing on Setanta over the weekend, because it was good honest, competetive boxing. Well done to Hayemaker for a great night. I have not become cynical suddenly or because of the result of a certain fight. Its because through the years I have seen so many dodgy things happen. Yet I still love the sport and from time to time we get a great night of boxing such as the one I have just mentioned. There we are no names mentioned, except in praise, the only way to deal with such a contraversial subject.

[stujones]

I think when the cocky, brash, brilliant Naseem Hamed worked his way up to the Number 1 contenders spot for the WBO super bantam title by beating no one of any real merit, then jumping up to Feather to fight Steve Robinson rather than take on Barrera for the super bantam title.
I was about 14 at the time and that was my first taste of a fighter being guided through the safest possible route, while banking millions, by one allegedly allegedly!

Its one of mine for British boxing...... although not for the reasons you say - but the shitty treatment of Steve Robinson. Gets a call on Holiday.

Robinson KNEW that one day he would fight Hamed, and he knew that he would have to be at his best to beat him (although, in reality a 100% Robinson didn't stand much of a chance). But he had 4 weeks.... the WBO gave NO indication that he would be stripped if didn't face his mandatory (the week before) some italian geezer if I rememember... then all of a sudden he is told he will be stripped if he didn't fight a guy, who had not won a British title at Featherweight, within a stipulated time frame.

Although before that - a bit young to remember, but the whole McGuigan vs Cruz debarcle wasn't good.... I bloody KNEW it was going to happen (even though I was 5!). The whole family were saying McGuigan has been dubbed into fighting in the heat - he is going to lose.

Then the whole Tyson, Givens, King business.

But the thing that P's me off more than anything now, is the invention of vacant titles - which has now happend with Burns vs Akaba... its rediculous.

[chinny]

When I realised that the sport I love generally leaves my heroes f*cked up

They almost all end up skint, they almost all end up damaged.

Look at the state of Terry Norris and Meldrick Taylor today. We saw them fight each other just what 15 years ago and they were as top level as it gets world champ v world champ, both P4P. You can barely understand a word even Pernell Whitaker says now - Pernell Whittaker! Thats probably the top 3 pound for pound 15 years ago. History repeats itself so the same probably awaits for todays top guys. Barerra signing a 5 year deal with DKP seems to suggest that one will end very badly. Hasn't the man got plates in his head? Funny how that got forgotten once he won a few comeback fights.

Although I still love watching boxing because I'm addicted I can't help thinking these guys experience a very short period of glory in return for spending the rest of their lives in misery

From a UK perspective I always thought Eubank would get out okay, and although he seems to have just as many (or few) marbles today as he did back then, the guy who signed a £10m deal with Sky is skint!

[Gray-Fox]

Probably Brodie-Jorrin. Then watching Hatton's career from about 2002.

[Gray-Fox]

When I realised that the sport I love generally leaves my heroes f*cked up

They almost all end up skint, they almost all end up damaged.

Look at the state of Terry Norris and Meldrick Taylor today. We saw them fight each other just what 15 years ago and they were as top level as it gets world champ v world champ, both P4P. You can barely understand a word even Pernell Whitaker says now - Pernell Whittaker! Thats probably the top 3 pound for pound 15 years ago. History repeats itself so the same probably awaits for todays top guys. Barerra signing a 5 year deal with DKP seems to suggest that one will end very badly. Hasn't the man got plates in his head? Funny how that got forgotten once he won a few comeback fights.

Although I still love watching boxing because I'm addicted I can't help thinking these guys experience a very short period of glory in return for spending the rest of their lives in misery

From a UK perspective I always thought Eubank would get out okay, and although he seems to have just as many (or few) marbles today as he did back then, the guy who signed a £10m deal with Sky is skint!

Pernell Whitaker is the way he is because of cocaine and alcohol, not boxing.

[Datsue]

When I realised that the sport I love generally leaves my heroes f*cked up

They almost all end up skint, they almost all end up damaged.

Although I still love watching boxing because I'm addicted I can't help thinking these guys experience a very short period of glory in return for spending the rest of their lives in misery

Same here. Why I've never had the temerity to suggest that any stoppage is ever early or that anyone is overpaid (though occasionally my eyebrows still go up on the latter). For the former, that's what rematches are for.

[chinny]

Pernell Whitaker is the way he is because of cocaine and alcohol, not boxing.

Hmmm are you sure? I don't see too many forty something rock stars coming out of rehab slurring their words.

[Poncey]

November 2000, however I wasn't around for the Ring/Don King bribe scandal from the late 70s:

The boxing promoter Cedric Kushner was fined $175,000 by the Nevada Athletic Commission yesterday for admitting he paid bribes to the International Boxing Federation.

Testifying in the federal governments fraud, racketeering, tax conspiracy and bribery trial against the boxing federation that concluded last summer in New Jersey, Kushner said he paid Bob Lee, the I.B.F. president, $2,500 to $10,000''several times'' and $100,000 in one instance in exchange for the federations sanctioning of a George Foreman heavyweight title fight against Axel Schulz.

Similar admissions were made by the promoter Bob Arum, although the government's case against Lee fizzled and he was convicted on lesser charges after 27 felony counts against him brought acquittals.

Arum, of Las Vegas-based Top Rank, was disciplined by the athletic commission in August and was fined $125,000 for bringing dishonor to the sport.

The Lalonde/Leonard WBC 168/175 farce was a good one someone mentioned above.

[Chambers2]

In answer to the original question, the Sports Network Sky mismatch days Harrison-Kedebe, Arthur-Kizza, Hatton-Rios/Pedersen/Vilches/Stewart/Oliveira, Calzaghe-Pudwill etc.

[Old bones Ian]

When the IBF came into existence, then i got a bit more cynical when the WBO came along, went a little more cynical when i saw the WBF titles, even more when i saw WBU farces. i could go on

[Ezzard]

It seems to me that most of us if not all of us on here are very cynical
of our beloved sport what with all the poor promotions,bad matches,bad decisions,protected fighters etc etc.
So as a true lover of boxing at what point did you realise that the game was actually quite corrupt and was never really about the fans or the sport?
For me as a 44 year old the turning point was Sugar Ray Leonard manipulating two belts from the WBC for fighting Donny Ladonde.
This was a huge turning point for me and helped turn me into
the cynical boxing fan ive become looking for the worst in every match.
So to everyone on here what was your turning point?

Mine too, that and the rematch with Duran (III) and Hearns and refusing to rematch Hagler. I saw then what was going on. In some ways Leonard's second career became the blueprint for the way boxing's next generation of superstars would be managed.

[bennie]

When amateurs started wearing headguards.

[Matt W]

One of the first fights I ever watched - Spinks-Holmes 2. My eyes were open from the start...

Having said that I find it very hard to stomach De La Hoya - Pacquiao.

[Flashing Blade]

When I saw Chuck Gardner standing across the ring from Frank Bruno.