Humans are prone to mistakes, we all know that, but nobody likes to be robbed, especially when they have worked so hard for it. In sports, there are certain decisions by referees/judges are so shocking that people find it hard to believe. Here I’m going to discuss such cases in boxing when there is a clear winner but he ends up losing the fight due to horrible referring decision. Even the winner is surprised by the outcome and feels sorry for the opponent.
- Sugar Ray Leonard vs Thomas Hearns – 1989
Outcome – 113-112 for Leonard, 113-112 for Hearns and 112-112. A draw.
When a judge gives a boxer a two-point advantage in round without even scoring a knockout then you know something went seriously wrong and that’s what happened to Hearns. It was a close fight which Hearn should have won, even Leonard accepted the fact and said publicly that that Hearn deserved to win.
- Oscar De La Hoya vs Pernell Whitaker – 1997
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2hbLlSTYUM
Outcome – 115-111, 116-110 and 116-110. Oscar awarded a unanimous decision.
This was a fight that was gift rapped to Oscar. Believe it or not, this was not for the first time it happened to Whitakar. He bombarded Oscar punches right left and center and knocked him down for the first time in his career. At the end Whitaker was screwed by the referees and Golden boy got a gift.
- Park Si-Hun Defeats Roy Jones Jr. – 1988
This fight was so one sided that at the end Park apologized to Jones for the shocking outcome. This was a gold medal match in which Jones landed 86 punches as compared to Park’s 32, but still the referee awarded the fight to Park. It is now considered as the most scandalous decision ever made in Olympics. As a result the IOC had to suspend all three judges and the investigation resulted in a new scoring system for the Olymic boxing.
- Nikolay Valuev vs Evander Holyfield – 2008
This was probably one of the dullest heavyweight fights in the history of boxing. At one end there was a 7ft giant Nikolay and champion at that time, he was facing 46-year-old Holyfield looking to become champion for the fifth time in his Pro career. It was a compelling matchup on paper that couldn’t live up to its expectations. But if there was any winner on the day, it was Holyfield because he was the one who pushed the giant in every round. Instead the Russian was gifted the fight along with the title.
- Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs Carlos Molina – 2005
If there was any single moment in the history of boxing where you would be damned by the outcome, it must be the Chavez vs Molina bout. Going into the fight Chavez was unbeaten at 23-0 on the other hand Molina was coming in with 11-1 record. Molina absolutely destroyed Chavez with his boxing gloves in a six round fight. Everybody was expecting Molina to win but the referees had other ideas. They unfairly gave the fight to Chavez to the disgust of every boxing fan.
