Your Top WTF? Moment of the 90's

[jrc26]

Bowe-Holyfield II "Fan Man"

Tyson-Holyfield II Ear bite

Bowe-Golota I Riot

And many more...

The 90's was a wild decade for the sport. What were you watching that just made you say "What the F@#$?". It takes a lot to shock a boxing fan. What shocked you? Discuss.

[Ezzard]

I'll go with an actual boxing moment... When Foreman KO'd Moorer I couldn't quite believe it.

[JC]

Holyfield beating Tyson, I was very young at the time but remember thinking Holyfield looked like an old man at the press conference.

[orbtastic]

In terms of phoning someone up and saying, wtf..did you just see that, it had to be Tyson/Holyfield I. It was a huge upset, virtually no-one picked Holyfield to win, nevermind last the 12 rounds. He had looked terrible in his previous few fights and some people were saying he would be seriously hurt.

The other fights mentioned were certainly pretty out there but in pure "did you see that" terms, I think Tyson/Holyfield I.

[Jaywheel]

McCall crying in the middle of the ring whilst getting punched in the face but never getting wobbled by Lennox in the rematch.

[Goodnight, Irene]

In terms of phoning someone up and saying, wtf..did you just see that, it had to be Tyson/Holyfield I. It was a huge upset, virtually no-one picked Holyfield to win, nevermind last the 12 rounds. He had looked terrible in his previous few fights and some people were saying he would be seriously hurt.

The other fights mentioned were certainly pretty out there but in pure "did you see that" terms, I think Tyson/Holyfield I.

Upsets come & upsets go, but youll not likely see a fanman incident again.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Agreed, that was insane. Of course I expected Evander to beat Mike. So maybe that is lost on me. But I was surprised it was so one sided.

[jrc26]

McCall crying in the middle of the ring whilst getting punched in the face but never getting wobbled by Lennox in the rematch.

Forgot about that one. I have seen mental breakdowns, but not before actually being punched. To this day I will never understand that one. He could have faked an injury, took a dive...any number of things, but to sit there and literally cry in the ring was astonishing. Don King must have given him some terrible coke. That seemed like a breakdown from withdrawels to me.

[jrc26]

How about Rock Newman tagging himself in WWF style and flipping Tillary over the ropes?

HBO sure got their money's worth with Riddick Bowe fights.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

I was at Darchinyan vs Pacheco when a fireworks display went of in the middle of the fight.

[Flump]

John David Jackson battering Jorge Castro to the point where I couldn't believe the fight wasn't being stopped, then Castro taking him out. Incredible.

[IRLangmaid25]

Andrew Golota's penchant for nut shots on Riddick Bowe in their two fights deserves an (dis)honourable mention as when I watched it and I have gone what the hell man.. You are winning the damn fight you don't have to do this, especially when he rocked Bowe in the first fight.

[jrc26]

Chavez-Taylor..."One of the most incredible calls I have ever seen made by a referee. Lou Duva is gonna go crazy now!"

To this day I say 'WTF', but I am still on the fence of right or wrong call on that one. I can see both sides to the argument.

[LeedsLad]

Steele was right to stop it.

Taylor was spent, had given everything and could have been seriously damaged had Chavez gotten to him again. Instead of blaming Steele for the defeat Lou Duva ought to look closely in the mirror at the crap advice given before the last round, in fact he'd have been justified in pulling Taylor out at that point IMO.

It's not Steele's job to monitor the time remaining, nor is it really relevant that Chavez was slightly out of the neutral corner. Didn't alter the fact that Taylor was done and using the turnbuckle to hold himself up.

Steele stopping that is nowhere near as bad as Marlon Wright practically winning the first Andrade fight for Lucian Bute. THAT is a disgrace. Preventing Andrade from punching Bute throughout the 12th round, getting in the way, then a count of about two minutes - Bute was still gone at the end of that.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Steele was right to stop it.

[baulks]

Definately: Moorer vs Foreman. I was watching that live at 5am in the UK, I never slept a wink after it. But, slept like a log the following night.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Steele was right to stop it.

I agree. Everyone knows about 5-10 seconds before a bout ends, nothing matters anymore & the referee should let the fighters fight. The bell for the end of the final round is just to remind the official in case he's forgotten it has to end sometime.

Try as I might, my convictions on this subject always pull me into this debate.

[jrc26]

Steele was right to stop it.

I agree. Everyone knows about 5-10 seconds before a bout ends, nothing matters anymore & the referee should let the fighters fight. The bell for the end of the final round is just to remind the official in case he's forgotten it has to end sometime.

Try as I might, my convictions on this subject always pull me into this debate.

I generally agree, but I can see how in the heat of the moment a referee could make that split second mistake.

If I am not mistaken didn't one of the judges actually have Chavez winning that fight? I have heard people blame Taylor's corner for not telling him to run in the 12th, but I think they were right in their advice considering Chavez's history of coming up on the better end of questionable decisions. Especially with Don King involved.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Yes, one judge had Chavez winning. You do hear a lot about Duva & Benton instructing Taylor he needed to fight it out the final round, but I agree with you --- hindsight is 20-20 when you're up against a Don King fighter (especially one with such a glittering record to protect), & I think King's history, & that one judge, exonerate Taylor's corner at least on that charge.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Playing it safe against a hard charging Chavez is a task much easier said than done. Taylor didn't know the meaning of the word run. So I honestly don't think it plays out any differently if his corner told him he had it in the bag.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Taylor had a knee problem which restricted his movement from, I think, the year before?

Never gets discussed, but who knows if it made a difference. It's possible. Did he look like he was having trouble with his pivot, or general footwork, after the fact? Only fight I have on his which I think was prior to the injury is his pummeling of Boddy McGirt. Maybe his greatest performance.

[Syntax Error]

To add to the list: Johnny Nelson -v- Carlos De Leon - WTF was Johnny doing?

He spent 12 rounds shrugging his shoulders!

[bollox]

Tyson - Holyfield was atrocious but the Fanman incident takes it. That was just mental no matter which way you look at it. And the poor bugger copped a beating for his troubles. RIP fanman

[jrc26]

Taylor had a knee problem which restricted his movement from, I think, the year before?

Never gets discussed, but who knows if it made a difference. It's possible. Did he look like he was having trouble with his pivot, or general footwork, after the fact? Only fight I have on his which I think was prior to the injury is his pummeling of Boddy McGirt. Maybe his greatest performance.

Yup. Even if the ref hadn't stopped it, he was a nearly shot fighter after that one. I don't know if winning that fight would have made much difference in his career...other than maybe a few dollars. By the time of the rematch a few years later he wasn't the same man.

The last interview I saw of him, from probably 7-8 years ago, he was terribly punch drunk. It was sad. He couldn't have been more than 36-37 at the time and he sounded horrible. Chavez did punish him that night even though Taylor won the fight fairly wide on my score card.

[jrc26]

this one isn't as drastic as the others but still gets a "wtf" is round 6 of emanuel burton/ivan robinson. 1:38 in the round and this reggae like music starts playing as they're boxing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTfOmjzeM-Q&t=5m38s

Neither is it as '90's' as the others...

the fight was in '96

Sounds pretty 90's to me ...I did mean 1990's Barry so you are good.