All Time Bad Decisions List and F*'ed Up Officating!

[Jack 1000]

I wrote articles differentiating between a fixed fight vs. just a bad decision. The fights listed below have been called into question by most, if not all boxing experts. I will list some of the worst. None of these I don't think list a close fight that could have gone either way, but I have noted memories where a boxing official or writer deviated from the norm, and have offered my own comments as well:

My List:

Ali-Liston II- The punch was real, but Liston's reactions, the very wrong announced time of the fight. Referee Jersey Joe Walcott's handling of the mess, was just so bizarre.

Corgi-Gonzalez I- One of the worst officiated fights ever with a hometown advantage, also one of the most exciting, but corrupt fights you will ever see. The ref, the corner, the fornicating TIMEKEEPER doing everything in their power to make sure Coggi held on to his title. Has to be seen to be believed how fucked up the officiating in that fight was!

Holyfield-Lewis I- The draw verdict, probably one of the worst decisions in boxing history, Eugenia Williams 115-113 Holyfield card, one of the worst cards of all time. Jeff Ryan of KO Magazine had the fight a draw, which was outrageous. A few saw a close fight, Burt Sugar carded 115-113 for Lewis, I had it 116-112 for Lewis. Worse is that Eugenia Williams goes by the name of Jeannie Williams, Jean Williams and Eugenia Williams. The IBF defended her right down the line and even snuck her in a few cards in Germany for their title fights. But most commissions have not used her since. Interestingly enough, she seemed to be a good judge up to that scandal. But the memories she left by giving that fight to Holyfield, one of the greatest injustices of boxing times.

Nelson-Fenech I- A thrilling although one-sided fight where Fenech should should have EASILY won at lest 116-112. One judge, Miguel Donate carded 116-112 for Nelson, a card so bad that when read I thought the commission had fucked up the scoresheet and they meant for Fenech. Fenech beat Nelson easily in the rematch by 8th round TKO, and even made threats to the judges pre-fight that "They better get it right this time." What goes around comes around, because when the rematch was stopped, two of the three judges had even scorecards! Despite the fact the Fenech had scored knockdowns! The other judge correctly had Nelson ahead.

Tony-Tiberi- James Tony started out well in that fight, but 15-1 long-shot Tiberi seemingly dominated and should have won easily. Problem was, Tony was one of the top P4P fighters at the time of that fight, and Tiberi was a 15-1 underdog. One judge was fair having Tiberi correctly ahead and the new IBF Middleweight Champion. The other two somehow gave the fight to Tony. Alex Wallow who called the fight for ABC Sports said, in front of Tony, "This is one of the most disgusting decisions I've seen."

Carr-Bramble-One of boxing's classic hometown robberies with Carr from Michigan and former champ Bramble seemingly looking for one last pay day. Bramble beat the shit out of Carr, knocking him down twice in the first round, the three knockdown rule was in effect. Carr showed great heart and courage trying to come back, with a close second round and although he appeared to stun Bramble in the 5th round, Bramble controlled all but maybe two rounds. Carr was given a split decision that defies all logic to this day.

Rios-Abril- Ricar Abril seemingly out-boxed and out-maneuvered Brandon Rios in that fight. If Rios won four rounds, that was generous, yet he got the decision, how, because Arum had to keep him in line for the Pacquiao fight.

Bradley-Pacquiao I: Courage given to Tim Bradley for fighting that fight with bad feet. Not quite the blowout that HBO had, but certainly a clear and convincing Pacquiao win. You could not give Bradley more than four rounds in the fight. I had it either 7-4-1 for Manny or 8-4. (116-112 or 116-113) And Manny won seven rounds probably eight very clearly and convincingly. Lost all respect for Brian Kenny who gave the fight TO BRADLEY! 116-112 and also the noted boxing writer Tom Hauser, author of a great boxing book The Black Lights, had Bradley slightly ahead. Reason seems to be that Arum needed to fix the fight, or allegations of a fix because Manny's contract was about to expire with Top Rank. The other suspicion was that posters were being circulated for the remach like a few days after the fight.

Keep in mind that Bradley probably would not have gotten other chances with Top Rank if he would have officially lost. The decision in the second fight seemed to be the way the first fight should have gone,

Foreman-Schulrz- Axl Schultz was a tough fighter from Germany, but only had a few KO's, he was a good boxer who could trouble fighters. He appeared to beat George Foreman at least 116-112 when they fought. Foreman was not only given a majority decision, but worse, not one judge gave that fight to Schultz in a fight that virtually everyone had him winning.

Escalera-Everett-Not quite the blowout that it has been made out to be. Escerala did rally in the later stages of the fight, and it was a good fight. But there is no doubt that Tyrone Everett won the fight by at least 9 or 10 rounds. Noted for the fight being in Philadelphia and the scene of the hometown judge Lou Tress voting against Philly fighter Everett. Not only a bad decision. But Peurto Rican judge Ismeal Fernandez carded 146-141 for Escalera! Just disgusting!

Napoles-Muniz I -One of the biggest referee heists of all time! A very good fight and it was close with a lot of solid exchanges, but this controversy with the ref was just aweful. The ref was Ramon Braverman of Mexico and Munitz was from Mexico. Napplez was the long-time Cuban Welterweight champion who was defending. Muniz came on late in the fight after a strong start by Naploes and he cuts up Jose's face, BADLY. In the 12th round the ref has the doctor look at Naplos face and the fight is properly stopped.

What is strange is that during the fight the ref is seen with his back turned several times, talking to Jose Suliman who was supervising at ringside. (Jose had not become WBC President yet.) seemingly about the cut situation. After the stoppage, while waiting for the announcement, ref Braverman consults with Sulaiman at ringside for about five minutes, comes to center ring, and takes the microphone, announcing in Spanish that the fight was stopped because the cuts on Muniz face were caused by head-butts! (Not punches!) Note that during the fight, there was no indication of any warning for head-butts, or points lost for headbutts. Jose Sulaiman remembers penalties given for headbutts to Muniz, and Barverman said he warned Muniz three times about head-butts. But there's no official record of this conversation taking place during the fight.

At any rate, the ref ordered the fight to go to the cards for a technical decision and Naplolez kept his title because he was ahead on two of the cards. The other food for thought, is, if those head-butts were intentional, why wouldn't there be a DQ in the fight?. Remember that this was a fight in Mexico with a Mexican ref, and this ref went against the Mexican fighter (Muniz) favoring the Cuban Naploez in his decision. The WBC did allow a rematch, which Naples won several months later, but stood by the result of the first fight. Muniz was robbed of a TKO win by the ref.

Jack

[Nightmare Roy]

I nearly threw up when the draw was announced between Lewis Holy but in hindsight it was the best thing that ever happened to Lewis. Big money rematch and he gained masses of fans.

[crusader]

The Coggi fight was one of the most blatant examples of corruption I've seen and that ref should've never been allowed to officiate another fight.

More recently Campillo-Shumenov II and Bakhtov-Kretschmann II stand out to me as fights in which, respectively, judges and the referee were blatantly pulling for one of the competitors. Check out the ref trying to DQ Bakhtov after Kretch quits, only to change his stance when even Kretschmann's corrupt promoter (see Airich-Williams) wasn't buying it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhY1kTOdHJg

I watched that live and couldn't believe what I was seeing. If the ref had gone through with the DQ it would been one of the most egregious cases of officiating I've seen in any sport.

[Ricky_]

CJ Ross scorecards for Pac v Bradley 1 & Floyd vs Canelo rank as my #1 & #2 worst ever.

[ThereByTheGrace]

Not a decision but strange officating in the meldrick Taylor Chavez fight.

Stopping the fight with 2 seconds to go was unfair on taylor

[Boxing Prospect]

Recently, Casimero Vs Ruenroeng...that referee should never be allowed in a bout again
The referees for most of Lazarte's fights in Argentina (I guess we found out why they let him get away with stuff in the end though)

[Tanzio]

Sweet Pea v Chavez draw

I find the outrage over Pac v Ramming Speed I comical at this point. Pac has only himself to blame for that loss not the judges.

I had Ramming Speed by a round. It could have gone either way or been a draw. Pac got it right the second time around.

[Baby Face Finster]

The Toney-Tiberi fight is the one fight that almost made me quit on the sport. Never was I so outraged than at that decision. It showed how corrupt the sport was. Here was Tiberi giving it his all and outworking Toney and getting robbed on the cards because Toney was the glamour and money fighter. Dave Tiberi retired right after this fight at the age of 25 and who can blame him? It's disgusting and horrible how corrupt and incompetent judges can simply ruin someone's hopes and dreams.

[Tanzio]

Sweet Pea v Ramirez I was also a travesty.

[Dancin' Dan]

So many fights that Laurence Cole has referred. He should be in jail. Always finds a way to rob the fighter from out of town and sells the promoter insurance for the fight! You can find at least ten fights where he absolutely cheated the system.

[Bard of Boxrec]

Robin Reid vs Sven Ottke. A few other Sven Ottke fights could qualify. Home officials really loved that guy.

[Tony1244]

Excellent list there, Jack. At one point, I would have added Ali-Norton 1 and 3, and Ali-Young, but after viewing again, they were just damn close fights.

Also, the Chavez-Taylor stoppage with a few seconds left was BS. You may have mentioned it, I forget...

[Tony1244]

Sweet Pea v Ramirez I was also a travesty.

Yes, that was....