"Bad" Decisions You Actually Agreed With?

Muhammad Ali vs Ken Norton II
Floyd Mayweather vs Oscar Dela Hoya
Floyd Mayweather vs Marcos Maidana I
Canelo vs Trout
Canelo vs Lara
Canelo vs GGG II

 

While Tyson Fury probably deserved the decision over wilder in their first meeting, the draw was at least reasonable

 

Mayweather-Castillo I
Ali-Norton III
Danny Garcia vs Mauricio Herrera
Jermall Charlo vs Matt Korobov
Also thought Salido vs JuanMa Lopez II being close at the time of the stoppage was well within the realm of reason.

 

Same here, Vito would not be intimidated, and would not back up.

 

I thought Spinks won the second Holmes fight. He out-touched Larry and Holmes never fully opened up on him.

 

I don't think Ali-Norton II was particularly controversial. Their's not much of an argument for Norton there. He himself conceded he lost the fight.

 

Sept 10 1973, Inglewood, California, won by Muhammad Ali by a split 12 round decision.

 

Somehow I screwed up that post and it appears as if my reply was part of your post. Sorry about that.

 

That’s a surprise!

Stoney’s calm advice and tactical input between rounds should’ve been invaluable to Johnny!

 

I've heard many say Norton beat Ali 3x, so I picked the 2nd bout to say otherwise

 

Most of them to be honest. Reading the internet could make one believe You get robberies on the big stage every week - but dirty little secret is professional judges are much better at scoring boxing matches than boxing fans are. They also have set criteria and pay attention to the task at hand. With 3 judges, They usually get it right - or with inevitable subjectivity of scoring, at least don't make it plain wrong.

As for examples - I often read about Sven Ottke supposedly getting all those gifts at home. I saw all of his title fights and there wasn't one I'd call a robbery. Only fight I had him losing was the one with Mads Larsen.

 

With all due respect, this is how i scored the Ottke-Reid fight. I wouldn't call this a robbery. I would call it Grand Larceny.

Sven Ottke v Robin Reid (super middleweight title)

Always wanted to see this one due to what has been written about the decision and the performance of the referee. So here we go.

Round 1: 10-9 Reid
Round 2: 10-9 Reid
Round 3: 10-9 Reid
Round 4: 10-10 Even
Round 5: 10-10 Even
Round 6: 9-9 Scored it for Reid but point deducted for a low blow
Round 7: 10-9 Ottke
Round 8: 10-9 Ottke
Round 9: 10-9 Reid
Round 10: 10-9 Reid
Round 11: 10-9 Reid
Round 12: 10-9 Reid

Total: 117-112 Reid (actual scores: 115-113, 115-113 and 117-112 all for Ottke)

Well...I should just stop right there. The performance of the referee Roger Tillerman was disgraceful, which is perhaps why this was his first and only world title fight. He shackled Reid by cautioning him for absolutely everything (saw this done once before in an amateur fight between Teofilo Stevenson and Jimmy Clark. Clark almost stopped Teo in the 1st round and after that the ref cautioned Clark for everything to the point where Clark was just standing there not punching, he was so inhibited). To say there wasn't a 'deal' would be naive as Ottke wouldn't even have to complain about anything in particular. He would just look at Tillerman and expect a response, which Tillerman obliged. The 6th round low blow was ironic because throughout the 7th round Ottke came in like a Billy goat with no cautions. I laughed in the 12th as Tillerman broke up yet another clinch and called out 'no holding'. Quite the testimony seeing as how he allowed Ottke to initiate every clinch for 12 rounds. The ref's acting performance aside, it wasn't a good fight at all and the decision was even worse IMO. Ottke's pattern was throw one or two light punches run in with the head and clinch. I felt Reid's harder punching clearly won it from him. Clearly there was a reason Ottke fought his entire career in Germany (except once when he went next door to Vienna). His style wouldn't travel well.

 

I meant to rewatch it, so I'll put that on "the schedule" and will get back to You. I have no argument about referee, He was shady indeed, but in terms of scoring alone - I had Ottke winning last time I saw it.
I think many people don't really appreciate the defensive styles that German boxers from this era would rely on, with their reliance on high guard and blocking - and that's where the robbery labels often come from, but I'll take a look again. Always possible I missed something.

 

Yeah that’s fair.

 

Also, the 2nd knockdown should not have counted. Golota shoved Ruiz to the floor, hit him when he was down, and then it was ruled a KD.

One of the most overrated “controversial” decisions ever. Tarver spent large amounts of time of the fight standing in the middle of the ring, doing nothing, perhaps worried about the body shots Roy was landing.

If you’re generous to Tarver, it’s a draw.