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Boxing and controversy go hand-in-hand. Be it Tyson’s repeated attempts to batter his opponents during matches or the alleged pay-offs, this sport has had more than its share of controversy and buzz. Our parents might tag boxing as a “gory sport which teaches kids to break each others’ bones” and neurologists might continue to give umpteen explanations as to how and why punches can affect the brain and its functions, we continue to love it for the action, fierce spirit to win and all that.

Fine! We admit it! We love the controversy! Nothing is more interesting than watching grown up people argue over referee decisions and attempt to attack each other. There we said it!

Now having confessed, let’s look at some of the most controversial decisions ever in boxing which will have you thinking and Googling for days!

4. Park Si-Hun vs. Roy Jones Jr.

When?
1988 Summer Olympics, Seoul, South Korea

So What Happened?
An amateur South Korean boxer, Park Si-Hun, faced an American teenager named Roy Jones Jr. in the 1988 Summer Olympics. The kid actually ran circles around him in the 5 rounds and had the match lasted for another round, Park would have been knocked right out of the ring. Surprisingly, the judges thought otherwise. In what seems to be a clear case of fixing, Park was awarded the gold medal and Jones was too surprised to say anything. Later scoring showed that Jones had landed 86 punches to Park’s 32.

The matter was buried at the time. Why? Because Park was a superior boxer. Just look at the great name he earned after the Olympics (NOT!). Jones, on the other hand, went on to capture IBF championships in the middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight divisions. He also won the WBA heavyweight title in his only fight in this weight class. He is also noted for holding the WBC, WBA, IBF, IBO, NBA, WBF, and IBA light heavyweight championships at the same time. (Divine Justice!)

The Aftermath:
Although the IOC firmly stands by its decision, the incident led Olympic organizers to establish a new scoring system for Olympic boxing.

3. Marvin Hagler vs. Sugar Ray Leonard

When?
April 6, 1987 at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas

So What Happened?
When in 1986, after a 2 year hiatus, Sugar Ray Leonard announced his return for one fight with the emerging star Marvin Hagler, fans were both confused and enthusiastic. Both men went through rigorous training camps for the much anticipated fight. There were no head-guards used, small gloves and the sparring partners were told to try their best to win over the full 12 rounds. They were basically REAL fights.

Hagler was hugely favored and Leonard was over-confident (a deadly combination we say). In a 12 round fight, Hagler was clearly leading and landed many fierce punches. Although Leonard’s defense was strong, he was losing. In a sudden turn of events, Leonard was declared the winner via split decision!

Those who watched the fight live and on PPV generally agree that Hagler was never hurt and at no time in the fight was ever in trouble from any of Leonard’s punches. The actual fight statistics show Leonard landing 306 punches to Hagler’s 291 which attests to the closeness of the contest!

The Aftermath:
Hagler bitterly protested the result and many boxing fans and writers have argued about the decision since. Despite pleas from Hagler’s camp for a rematch, Leonard announced his retirement a month later. Hagler quit boxing, saying he was tired of the backroom politics of the sport. Both men went their separate ways and two of boxing’s greatest stars were lost.

2. Kendall Holt vs. Ricardo Torres

When?
September 1, 2007 in Barranquilla, Colombia

So What Happened?
Ok, this one is pretty recent and if you are a fan of the sport, you have probably seen it. As the fight commenced, it was clear that Holt was the leader, knocking down Torres with a left-right combination in the sixth round. Holt was ahead of Torres on two of three scorecards entering the eleventh round, but Torres knocked down Holt with a vicious left hook, giving Torres a chance make a comeback in the fight. As Holt staggered back to his feet, Torres’ fans started hurling full beer cans, bottles, cans of soda and water into the ring. As Holt did not throw any punch back, the referee, Genaro Rodriguez, decided to stop the fight and Torres won by ‘technical knock-out’ in the eleventh round.

After the fight, Holt claimed that after he knocked Torres down in the sixth round, he was hit in the head with loaded beer cans. Holt also claimed that someone in Torres’ corner reached through the ropes and grabbed his leg during the eleventh round. Darren Antola, Holt’s cut man, was hit with a beer can to the back of his head as he prepared to head to the airport for his flight back to New Jersey. Ashema Evans, Holt’s girlfriend, suffered a cut on her leg when fans began toppling tables in the VIP section to bum rush the ring.

The Aftermath:
On September 18, 2007, The Kendall Holt camp completed a formal protest of the fight. The protest included 35 pages of documentation including certifications by Holt, manager Henry Cortes and boxing writer Keith Idec, a report by Commissioner Larry Hazzard Jr., still photos and video evidence. On October 5, the WBO denied Holt’s request for a reversal of the loss, citing that only the Colombian Boxing Commission can make such a ruling.

The WBO also denied Holt’s request for an immediate rematch, but will keep him high in the rankings in order to land another title shot in the future. Sad but true, the matter was buried.

1. Muhammad Ali versus Sonny Liston

When?
May 25, 1965, Lewiston, Maine

So What Happened?
For the grand finale, we bring you the most controversial decision ever delivered, starring the greatest legends in the world of boxing. The two Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston fights were among the most anticipated, watched and controversial fights in boxing history. At the time of the first fight, Liston was the world heavyweight champion after dethroning all his famous contemporaries. Ali, on the other hand, was a 22-year-old who enjoyed the spotlight. Ali was confident that he would bring the reigning king down and Liston was all but ready to let his title go.

The first fight (February 25, 1964) ended with Ali (Cassius Clay then) as the clear winner. While the decision wasn’t controversial, it was definitely unexpected, and this led to a re-match. A second match was scheduled and this is the match were the world saw a victory do controversial that no one has been able to digest it yet (except Ali, obviously).

The fight for initially scheduled for November, but Ali had to postpone it because of health issues. Finally on May 25, 1965, Liston and Ali faced each other once again. Midway through the first round, Liston fell to the canvas, in what many have argued was not a legitimate knockdown. Referee Jersey Joe Walcott seemed to be confused after he sent Ali to a neutral corner and the champion refused, instead standing over his fallen opponent and yelling at him to get up, then posing over him with his fists in the air celebrating the knockdown. Walcott took 20 seconds to figure out what to do, and by then Liston had gotten to his feet and resumed boxing.

Nat Fleischer, publisher of The Ring, finally told Walcott that Liston had spent more than the requisite 10 seconds on the canvas, and Walcott stopped the fight - awarding Ali a first-round knockout. The fight went down in history as the most baffling one as the knockout punch was not seen by many and thus tagged ‘the phantom punch’. Many continue to claim that Liston had bet against himself and ‘took a dive’ because he owed money to the mafia, and others believe that he feared for his safety from Nation of Islam extremists and just wanted to extricate himself from the entire situation.

It remains inconclusive to this day as to whether the blow was a legitimate knockout punch, so historians and analysts continue to argue the results of this rematch.

The Aftermath:
Ali was crowned the new champion of the boxing world and Liston went on with his career till he died on 5 January, 1971. Reasons of his death remain unclear and while the police has ruled out foul-play, fans have their doubts.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 20th, 2008 at 4:11 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.