BoxRec

Heavyweight boxer Curtis Harper has informed the Los Angeles Times that he's hoping Minnesota regulators will overturn last month's disqualification loss to Efe Ajagba.

Harper made headlines all over the world when he stepped in the ring for his FS1 televised fight with Ajagba and then simply walked out and abandoned the fight at the sound of the first bell.

The referee issued a disqualification call, which raised the record of Ajagba to 6-0 with 5 by knockout.

Harper told the paper that he was angry because he claims to have never had the opportunity to sign hard copies of contracts he says were necessary to be fully paid for the bout.

He was going to earn $6,000 for the fight.

“It wasn’t about money. It was about the respect of the game,” Harper said.

“I touched gloves and in the bottom right corner over my opponent’s shoulder was the promoter and matchmaker all smiling and happy after I never signed a contract. … I never got a copy back [of the electronic contract]. It felt like I didn’t have a contract. I never saw a contract, so I never knew what they had. I wanted a bout contract and a participant contract and [matchmaker] Chico Rivas told me, ‘Get in the ring or you won’t get paid.’”

Leon Margules of Warriors Boxing, who promoted the fight, rejected Harper's claims.

"[Harper is] lying. … The commission asked them at the weigh-in, ‘Is this your signature?’” on the electronic contract, “and [Harper] said yes,” Margules said.

Harper, who claims that he never knew the fight would be televised, is hoping his controversial decision will motivate other pro boxers to stand up for their rights.

“I hope so. Why wouldn’t it?” Harper asked. “The sport of boxing has no union. No one can protect themselves. Boxing needs more work by the commissions.”

Doesn't deserve to have the result overturned. Does deserve however to be a permanent laughing stock in the World of Boxing, and should never be licensed to fight again.

And he hasn’t fought since......

I think they should change the result. Change it from a DQ Harper loss to a TKO Harper loss.

Tony1244 wrote: ↑21 Mar 2020, 12:06 I think they should change the result. Change it from a DQ Harper loss to a TKO Harper loss.

Either way he’s been the distance anyway, so it’s not like he’ll have 100% KO

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑21 Mar 2020, 17:00

Tony1244 wrote: ↑21 Mar 2020, 12:06 I think they should change the result. Change it from a DQ Harper loss to a TKO Harper loss.

Either way he’s been the distance anyway, so it’s not like he’ll have 100% KO

I think a DQ like that should be considered a TKO. Ref should have simply counted him out when he left the ring.

Tony1244 wrote: ↑21 Mar 2020, 17:49

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑21 Mar 2020, 17:00

Either way he’s been the distance anyway, so it’s not like he’ll have 100% KO

I think a DQ like that should be considered a TKO. Ref should have simply counted him out when he left the ring.

That makes sense. The fight did start.

They should designate the result as loss by LOL since everyone will be laughing at him the rest of his life anyways

A loss by DQ should be the same as a loss by TKO.

The loser (and I mean that in more ways than one) Harper failed to go the distance = TKO.

Tony1244 wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 12:50 A loss by DQ should be the same as a loss by TKO.

The loser (and I mean that in more ways than one) Harper failed to go the distance = TKO.

Nah I can't get on board with that. A DQ is not a knockout. I have seen occasions where guys clearly intentionally got themselves DQ'd to avoid being knocked out, but it's still a DQ.

Though I do notice that a promoter can buy a result change apparently if they think it'd be easier for them to sell a guy.

For instance. Chavez was DQ'd in one of his early fights, later changed. Tyson beat Jesse Ferguson by disqualification, which was later changed to TKO I guess so that it wouldn't break his KO streak.

DQ's are definitely some of the least satisfying results in Boxing. Possibly less satisfying even than draws.

gilgamesh wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 14:58

Tony1244 wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 12:50 A loss by DQ should be the same as a loss by TKO.

The loser (and I mean that in more ways than one) Harper failed to go the distance = TKO.

Nah I can't get on board with that. A DQ is not a knockout. I have seen occasions where guys clearly intentionally got themselves DQ'd to avoid being knocked out, but it's still a DQ.

Though I do notice that a promoter can buy a result change apparently if they think it'd be easier for them to sell a guy.

For instance. Chavez was DQ'd in one of his early fights, later changed. Tyson beat Jesse Ferguson by disqualification, which was later changed to TKO I guess so that it wouldn't break his KO streak.

DQ's are definitely some of the least satisfying results in Boxing. Possibly less satisfying even than draws.

Let's say you're beating the sh!t out of me. But I don't want to get KOd, so I hit you in the balls real hard a few times. You win by DQ and it's not counted as a stoppage. I think that would be very unfair to you. It's like knocking the chessboard over when you're losing. You stopped me. You should get the TKO.

Same with injuries. Liston couldn't come out because of a supposed bad shoulder. Ali correctly got the TKO. But Norris couldn't continue because of a knee injury and I believe Mike Tyson never got the TKO. He should have IMO.

Tony1244 wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 15:09

gilgamesh wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 14:58

Nah I can't get on board with that. A DQ is not a knockout. I have seen occasions where guys clearly intentionally got themselves DQ'd to avoid being knocked out, but it's still a DQ.

Though I do notice that a promoter can buy a result change apparently if they think it'd be easier for them to sell a guy.

For instance. Chavez was DQ'd in one of his early fights, later changed. Tyson beat Jesse Ferguson by disqualification, which was later changed to TKO I guess so that it wouldn't break his KO streak.

DQ's are definitely some of the least satisfying results in Boxing. Possibly less satisfying even than draws.

Let's say you're beating the sh!t out of me. But I don't want to get KOd, so I hit you in the balls real hard a few times. You win by DQ and it's not counted as a stoppage. I think that would be very unfair to you. It's like knocking the chessboard over when you're losing. You stopped me. You should get the TKO.

Same with injuries. Liston couldn't come out because of a supposed bad shoulder. Ali correctly got the TKO. But Norris couldn't continue because of a knee injury and I believe Mike Tyson never got the TKO. He should have IMO.

If you can't continue due to injury it's always a TKO or RTD or some other way of saying the same thing.

As for seeing a guy low blow his out of a potential KO loss. I already saw that happen. Anthony Peterson pulled that against Brandon Rios.

I think the DQ should stand, and not because of the fact that the other guy didn't deserve a more legitimate win (I mean hell everybody that saw the fights, knows what's up), but you need a way to keep track of repeat rule breakers. If a guy has been DQ'd 5 times in his career, he should have his Boxing license revoked in my opinion. Hell if you wanted to make the rule 3 times I could see it, but 5 times seems the way to go for me.

It should also affect your pay the next time you're in a big fight. You get a big opportunity, but you're a known dirty fighter, well that's less money we're gonna offer you than we would a clean fighter of your level.

So while I get what you're saying in theory, I think the sport needs a way to monitor repeat rule breakers so DQ results should stand.

Tony1244 wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 15:09

gilgamesh wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 14:58

Nah I can't get on board with that. A DQ is not a knockout. I have seen occasions where guys clearly intentionally got themselves DQ'd to avoid being knocked out, but it's still a DQ.

Though I do notice that a promoter can buy a result change apparently if they think it'd be easier for them to sell a guy.

For instance. Chavez was DQ'd in one of his early fights, later changed. Tyson beat Jesse Ferguson by disqualification, which was later changed to TKO I guess so that it wouldn't break his KO streak.

DQ's are definitely some of the least satisfying results in Boxing. Possibly less satisfying even than draws.

Let's say you're beating the sh!t out of me. But I don't want to get KOd, so I hit you in the balls real hard a few times. You win by DQ and it's not counted as a stoppage. I think that would be very unfair to you. It's like knocking the chessboard over when you're losing. You stopped me. You should get the TKO.

Same with injuries. Liston couldn't come out because of a supposed bad shoulder. Ali correctly got the TKO. But Norris couldn't continue because of a knee injury and I believe Mike Tyson never got the TKO. He should have IMO.

Another note. A case that comes to mind where I do feel bad that the guy has a "DQ" on his record instead of a TKO is Junior Jones vs Marco Antonio Barrera 1.

Officially the result is Barrera was DQ'd because his corner came into the ring, but if you've ever seen that fight you know that they jumped into the ring to get Junior Jones off of him because he was beating the ever loving sh*t out of him, and I think they were concerned that the referee wasn't stopping it fast enough so they just urgently jumped in to protect their fighter.

So that one is officially a DQ, but if you watch that fight back. That's a stoppage. Barrera was finished. It's just a technicality that makes it a DQ.

gilgamesh wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 15:37

Tony1244 wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 15:09

Let's say you're beating the sh!t out of me. But I don't want to get KOd, so I hit you in the balls real hard a few times. You win by DQ and it's not counted as a stoppage. I think that would be very unfair to you. It's like knocking the chessboard over when you're losing. You stopped me. You should get the TKO.

Same with injuries. Liston couldn't come out because of a supposed bad shoulder. Ali correctly got the TKO. But Norris couldn't continue because of a knee injury and I believe Mike Tyson never got the TKO. He should have IMO.

If you can't continue due to injury it's always a TKO or RTD or some other way of saying the same thing.

As for seeing a guy low blow his out of a potential KO loss. I already saw that happen. Anthony Peterson pulled that against Brandon Rios.

I think the DQ should stand, and not because of the fact that the other guy didn't deserve a more legitimate win (I mean hell everybody that saw the fights, knows what's up), but you need a way to keep track of repeat rule breakers. If a guy has been DQ'd 5 times in his career, he should have his Boxing license revoked in my opinion. Hell if you wanted to make the rule 3 times I could see it, but 5 times seems the way to go for me.

It should also affect your pay the next time you're in a big fight. You get a big opportunity, but you're a known dirty fighter, well that's less money we're gonna offer you than we would a clean fighter of your level.

So while I get what you're saying in theory, I think the sport needs a way to monitor repeat rule breakers so DQ results should stand.

Interesting point about monitoring rule breakers. What you wrote, and I put in bold, always should happen. I'm not sure if it always does. I just looked up the Tyson-Norris fight. Tyson didn't get credited with a TKO. Now, if that was because of Norris' alleged injury or Tyson flunked his pot test, I'm not sure.

Whether you're knocked out cold, can't continue, have a breakdown in the ring (McCall), walk out of the ring like Harper or left before the fight to pick up your daughter from nursery school, the other guy should get credited with a stoppage.

gilgamesh wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 15:40

Tony1244 wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 15:09

Let's say you're beating the sh!t out of me. But I don't want to get KOd, so I hit you in the balls real hard a few times. You win by DQ and it's not counted as a stoppage. I think that would be very unfair to you. It's like knocking the chessboard over when you're losing. You stopped me. You should get the TKO.

Same with injuries. Liston couldn't come out because of a supposed bad shoulder. Ali correctly got the TKO. But Norris couldn't continue because of a knee injury and I believe Mike Tyson never got the TKO. He should have IMO.

Another note. A case that comes to mind where I do feel bad that the guy has a "DQ" on his record instead of a TKO is Junior Jones vs Marco Antonio Barrera 1.

Officially the result is Barrera was DQ'd because his corner came into the ring, but if you've ever seen that fight you know that they jumped into the ring to get Junior Jones off of him because he was beating the ever loving sh*t out of him, and I think they were concerned that the referee wasn't stopping it fast enough so they just urgently jumped in to protect their fighter.

So that one is officially a DQ, but if you watch that fight back. That's a stoppage. Barrera was finished. It's just a technicality that makes it a DQ.

Yup. Foreman-Frazier 2 and Holmes-Cooney almost were DQs for a similar reason. I agree with you that DQ behavior needs to be monitored but I hate to see a guy not get the stoppage he deserves.

Yeah the Orlin Norris result is a No Contest so it's almost certainly the result of a failed drug test. I know for a fact the Golota result was because he failed a post fight drug test because he kicked Golota's ass.

I would assume it's the same thing with Norris. Which would actually make it surprising that he wasn't more severely reprimanded if so, because hell he fought again just 3 months later.

Tony1244 wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 15:51

gilgamesh wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 15:40

Another note. A case that comes to mind where I do feel bad that the guy has a "DQ" on his record instead of a TKO is Junior Jones vs Marco Antonio Barrera 1.

Officially the result is Barrera was DQ'd because his corner came into the ring, but if you've ever seen that fight you know that they jumped into the ring to get Junior Jones off of him because he was beating the ever loving sh*t out of him, and I think they were concerned that the referee wasn't stopping it fast enough so they just urgently jumped in to protect their fighter.

So that one is officially a DQ, but if you watch that fight back. That's a stoppage. Barrera was finished. It's just a technicality that makes it a DQ.

Yup. Foreman-Frazier 2 and Holmes-Cooney almost were DQs for a similar reason. I agree with you that DQ behavior needs to be monitored but I hate to see a guy not get the stoppage he deserves.

Such is life, but ultimately a win is a win, and like I said. People that saw the fight know what's up.

I mean hell you also got guys that DQ'd where THEY were beating the sh*t out of the other guy. Both Golota/Bowe fights for instance come to mind. Golota screwed himself in fights he was winning....twice.

The 2nd Bowe/Golota fight along with the 1st Jones/Barrera fight are probably my favorite ever fights that end via DQ. Bowe/Golota 2 was wild.

gilgamesh wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 15:55

Tony1244 wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 15:51

Yup. Foreman-Frazier 2 and Holmes-Cooney almost were DQs for a similar reason. I agree with you that DQ behavior needs to be monitored but I hate to see a guy not get the stoppage he deserves.

Such is life, but ultimately a win is a win, and like I said. People that saw the fight know what's up.

I mean hell you also got guys that DQ'd where THEY were beating the sh*t out of the other guy. Both Golota/Bowe fights for instance come to mind. Golota screwed himself in fights he was winning....twice.

The 2nd Bowe/Golota fight along with the 1st Jones/Barrera fight are probably my favorite ever fights that end via DQ. Bowe/Golota 2 was wild.

Golota screwed himself over in fights he was winning at least 3 times. Grant-Golota.

Tony1244 wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 16:02

gilgamesh wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 15:55

Such is life, but ultimately a win is a win, and like I said. People that saw the fight know what's up.

I mean hell you also got guys that DQ'd where THEY were beating the sh*t out of the other guy. Both Golota/Bowe fights for instance come to mind. Golota screwed himself in fights he was winning....twice.

The 2nd Bowe/Golota fight along with the 1st Jones/Barrera fight are probably my favorite ever fights that end via DQ. Bowe/Golota 2 was wild.

Golota screwed himself over in fights he was winning at least 3 times. Grant-Golota.

But the question there with that is. Do you still see THOSE fights as ones where Bowe deserved to have won by TKO? Even though if anything he was saved from being TKO'd?

gilgamesh wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 16:03

Tony1244 wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 16:02

Golota screwed himself over in fights he was winning at least 3 times. Grant-Golota.

But the question there with that is. Do you still see THOSE fights as ones where Bowe deserved to have won by TKO? Even though if anything he was saved from being TKO'd?

That's a tough one. Let me party and take a walk and think about it.

Tony1244 wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 16:05

gilgamesh wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 16:03

But the question there with that is. Do you still see THOSE fights as ones where Bowe deserved to have won by TKO? Even though if anything he was saved from being TKO'd?

That's a tough one. Let me party and take a walk and think about it.

By all means. We have plenty of time to think these things over don't we

Tony1244 wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 12:50 A loss by DQ should be the same as a loss by TKO.

The loser (and I mean that in more ways than one) Harper failed to go the distance = TKO.

By that same logic, you could say all TKOs could be DQs, since DQs are pretty much never going the distance

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 18:11

Tony1244 wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 12:50 A loss by DQ should be the same as a loss by TKO.

The loser (and I mean that in more ways than one) Harper failed to go the distance = TKO.

By that same logic, you could say all TKOs could be DQs, since DQs are pretty much never going the distance

But a TKO of course is counted as a KO.

gilgamesh wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 16:12

Tony1244 wrote: ↑25 Mar 2020, 16:05

That's a tough one. Let me party and take a walk and think about it.

By all means. We have plenty of time to think these things over don't we

If Bowe had gotten credit for a stoppage it wouldn't have bothered me as Golota was unable to continue. He was unable to continue because he wasn't following the rules, but he was still unable to continue.

I remember Chagaev was beating the hell out of Rob Calloway, knocked him down at least once, and he didn't get credit for a stoppage because of an accidental headbutt stopped before round 4.