Robbery! The cry that goes up after every close or disputed decision – but these are the ten most controversial fights that genuinely rocked boxing in the modern era.
Manny Pacquiao, Lennox Lewis, Gennady Golovkin and George Foreman are among the most famous names in the sport – but even they weren’t immune to being stung by some inexplicable judging.
A nod to Floyd Mayweather before we start, however. Mr 50-0 never lost a pro fight, of course. But CJ Ross – who had his one-sided masterclass against Canelo Alvarez a 114-114 draw – might be up there with the most baffling scorecards seen, even if it didn’t ultimately affect the result.
Speaking of Canelo…
10. Canelo Alvarez D12 Gennady Golovkin (2017)
An appalling robbery? No. But it looked obvious to most viewers that ‘Triple G’ had done enough to earn a close-but-clear decision win over his great rival in their epic first fight, outlanding Alvarez in 10 of the 12 rounds.
But Adalaide Byrd’s jaw-dropping scorecard of 118-110 to Canelo (with Golovkin winning just two rounds) led to a split-decision draw and fuelled the bad blood that engulfed this feud.
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“The scoring is not my fault,” shrugged Golovkin, while his trainer Abel Sanchez suggested Byrd must have filled out her scorecard before the two middleweights entered the ring.
9. Erik Morales W12 Marco Antonio Barrera (2000)
Another dubious decision that sparked a memorable trilogy. Unbeaten Morales was the favourite going into this war with his Mexican blood rival, which perhaps swayed the judges.
The ferocious action went back and forth, but Barrera’s left hook finished many of the exchanges, while a knockdown in the final minute seemed to seal his win. However, two of the judges had other ideas, giving Morales a split-decision triumph.
Barrera won another controversial fight the second time around (with several observers believing this time ‘El Terrible’ deserved victory) before sealing the trilogy in a final thriller.
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8. Oscar De La Hoya W12 Felix Sturm (2004)
Debatable decisions followed ‘The Golden Boy’ around. De La Hoya’s defeats by Felix Trinidad and Shane Mosley (in their rematch) provoked huge debate, as did his victory against Pernell Whitaker.
But the clearest bad decision came against unfancied Sturm. De La Hoya was warming up for a blockbuster showdown with Bernard Hopkins and, out of his natural division at middleweight, got outworked by Germany’s Sturm in a scrappy bout.
The judges, perhaps unwilling to derail a super-fight, all gave De La Hoya the nod at 115-113. A fair scorecard… just for the wrong boxer.
7. Josh Taylor W12 Jack Catterall (2022)
One of the most blatantly incorrect decisions in a British ring.
Scotland’s Taylor had done superbly to unify the world titles at 140lb yet couldn’t get to grips with Catterall in a messy fight between two southpaws.
‘El Gato’ knocked down Taylor in round eight and landed the cleaner punches throughout. But the split decision in Glasgow saw two of the judges edge the fight to the champion.
“What a load of s***!” Catterall tweeted afterwards, which seemed a fair summary. Attempts to organise a rematch have failed so far.
6. Shannon Briggs W12 George Foreman (1997)
Perhaps this was bitter justice for ‘Big George’. Foreman probably got a gift decision against Axel Schulz – his first fight after regaining the world heavyweight title at age 45 – but received his comeuppance against Briggs.
‘Shannon the Cannon’ was 23 years younger than Foreman but also 23 steps behind in the ring, allowing the old grill merchant to control the tempo. Foreman broke Briggs’ nose in the final round trying for a KO, but Briggs somehow won a majority decision.
It was Foreman’s last fight, and the result made Briggs the lineal heavyweight champion until he lost that mythical title to Lennox Lewis in his next contest.
🎥 George Foreman at age 48, giving 25-year-old Shannon Briggs hell in the the final two rounds of their fight for the Lineal Heavyweight Championship.
💪🏾Surprisingly, George outlanded the younger man by 284/223.
Briggs won a controversial majority decision to take the crown. pic.twitter.com/cbfdqsFj8l
— Lineal Boxing Champion (@LinealBoxChamp) January 8, 20225. Evander Holyfield D12 Lennox Lewis (1999)
There have been more outright awful decisions, but few more disheartening.
Just when boxing was set to crown an undisputed heavyweight champ for the first time in seven years, this outcome left the title fractured and the public fuming.
A Lewis points victory looked like a formality until a majority draw was announced. The fifth round – where Lewis had pinned Holyfield on the ropes, yet judge Eugenia Williams plumped for a 10-9 to Evander – was the most bizarre one-round scoring imaginable.
“That, ladies and gentlemen, is a travesty,” HBO’s Jim Lampley told TV viewers. Lewis would finally win the belts in a rematch that was, ironically, slightly closer than the first bout.
4. Tim Bradley W12 Manny Pacquiao (2012)
“That decision was a crime,” said TV analyst Larry Merchant.
You could see his point. Pacquiao dominated Bradley in their welterweight bout, rocking the American and outlanding him by almost 100 punches (253 blows to Tim’s 159).
ESPN scored the bout 119–109 to the ‘Pac Man’. Yet two of the judges somehow gave it to Bradley 115-113, handing Pacquiao his first defeat in seven years.
Pacquiao was a gracious ‘loser’, however, and the fight resulted in a pair of rematches – both of which the Filipino phenomenon won. Just like he almost certainly won the first fight.
3. Julio Cesar Chavez D12 Pernell Whitaker (1993)
This was supposed to crown boxing’s pound-for-pound no.1. Instead, it delivered a rank decision for the ages.
Mexican idol Chavez was 87-0 going in but should have been 87-1 coming out after a masterful display by ‘Sweat Pea’.
Yet, in front of a pro-Chavez crowd in Texas, the bout was scored a majority draw. Virtually every member of the media had Whitaker as a clear winner.
Chavez griped that he deserved the victory because all Whitaker did “was run”. As one ringside observer noted, if Whitaker was running away, who did Chavez think had been hitting him all night?
2. Jose Luis Ramirez W12 Pernell Whitaker (1988)
It must have been Whitaker’s slick, southpaw style that caused so many judges to ignore his in-ring skills. His points loss to De La Hoya was debatable, his draw with Chavez an insult, but his first pro defeat was somehow worse.
Challenging for a lightweight world title in Paris, Whitaker dominated early, and Ramirez fought back before Whitaker pulled away at the end. British judge Harry Gibbs had it about right at 118-113 for Whitaker, but his fellow judges overruled him.
Whitaker collapsed to his knees in the ring after his defeat was announced. He would get revenge with a win against Ramirez a year later, but it was not the end of his judging woes.
On This Day in 1988... 🗓
Jose Luis Ramirez defeats Pernell 'Sweet Pea' Whitaker by SD to retain the WBC World lightweight title in France.
The decision is considered to be one of the worst in boxing history.
How would you have scored the bout? 🤔#Boxing pic.twitter.com/UzahqBRE18
— Boxing Social (@boxing_social) March 12, 20191. Park Si-hun W3 Roy Jones Jr (1988)
The most stunning, disgraceful decision in a boxing ring came not in the pro game – but in the Olympics.
The USA’s Jones blitzed South Korea’s Park for every minute of all three rounds in their light-heavyweight gold-medal match.
The decision win for the home fighter was so shocking that Park looked appalled (he later said he wished he had the silver medal), the crowd booed, and the referee apologised to Jones.
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The Val Barker Trophy for best overall boxer in the 1988 Olympics was awarded to Jones despite him not even winning his final, three of the five judges were suspended, and a new system of Olympic scoring was eventually set up.
Yep, that’s how bad this one decision was.
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