So everytime a fight has a debatable outcome or peculiar circumstances within the fight we see so many conspiracy theorists stating it was fixed or scripted which leads me to aks the question, when was the last high profile fight that was exposed as fixed? In this day and age, fixes arent likely to be kept secret forever but I dont recall any scandals exposed to memory. Thoughts?
Not many are going to admit to fixing a fight. It happens. It's dangerous for them to admit it regardless.
No one actively involved admits it but emails, texts, conversations are leaked, you have whistleblowers etc. You see it in all walks of life but when was the last big boxing one?
Kovalev vs Canelo is a clear example of a fixed fight. KRUSHER Kovalev who always put lots of power and aggression in his punches, was suddenly tippy-tapping like he was Otto Wallin and in sparring
See, that's the perfect example of how modern boxing fights AREN'T fixed. Well, not in the "Hey, kid. Here's an envelope full of cash. We need you to go down in the 4th." type of fixing. Modern fixing in boxing is done by choosing the correct opponent. Plus the promoters wining and dining the judges and letting them know who butters their bread so you can get favorable cards. Canelo and his team picked Kovalev because he'd just had a barn-burner of a fight against Yarde a month previously. They slapped a rehydration clause on him, too. Plus, Kovalev was old and a drunk so he was just about on his way out anyway. That was the fix. They knew Kovalev wouldn't have time to recover and train and be anywhere close to 100%. That's called stacking the deck in your favor. And Canelo has done it his entire career. Catchweights, rehydration clauses, dragging guys up multiple weight classes to fight him, picking named dudes who are old and looking for a last payday before they retire, etc. No actual fixing needed. Just giving yourself every edge possible so it's basically impossible for you to lose. That's why the people claiming the AJ/Prenga fight was fixed are hilarious. The fix was picking a club level guy like Prenga. And guess what that club level guy did? He had the best start possible and then threw it away because he has never been at that level and doesn't have the experience/ability to know how to handle himself. He ate a couple of AJ punches, decided that sucked, shelled up, and got smoked.
Indian heavyweight Rohit Singh had some hillarious fixed fights. There was that Mexican-Lebanese guy too. I don't think his fights were ever exposed as being fixed, and the industry no doubt has an incentive to cover it up, so you likely will not hear about it even when fights are fixed. A more relevant example though would be Nelson Hysa, whose career is very largely manufactured. Some of his fights look fixed, and his amateur record is bizarre and clearly corrupt. And this guy is currently ranked as a contender by two sanctioning bodies, which is a disgrace in itself, but nothing unusual in boxing. Sport is corrupt, boxing moreso than most others, if not all. There is still mob involvement too, and sometimes mega money on the line if things go a certain way. So one cannot just write off a fixed fight conspiracy theory.
It looked like Kovalev was pulling his jab and punches all night... Even Badou Jack and others thought the fight was a fix. A lot of Canelo's fights look VERY suspicious. The Callum Smith fight looks hilarious with the uppercuts Callum was throwing and (probably intentionally) missing.
Sure, bud. Why don't you tell us all about how jet fuel can't melt steel beams while you're at it. I'm sure Kovalev, who had already had a storied and lucrative career, just decided he'd be cool with getting brutally knocked out. What a swell guy he is letting little Canelito do him like that.
Joshua v Paul, a fix of some kind was in. Joshua was missing on purpose and telegrahing to an absurd level. When the fight was supposed to end, he hit Paul a little harder than was planned.
I can't think of any fixed and then exposed matches, also because, as has been said, it's very difficult to find evidence for a fixed fight. However, there are several matches that are suspicious, certainly one of them is Ali-Liston 2 (the famous phantom punch), another is Hagler-Leonard. An attempt to fix the match was made for Tunney-Dempsey 2, but, as far as I know, the attempt failed. Frankly I've always thought that Roy Jones-McCallum was, in some ways, a fixed fight. Let me explain, the story is well-known, McCallum and Jones were friends, Mike needed money, and the two faced each other. Roy was 27, he was in his prime and was a real phenomenon, McCallum was 13 years older and at the end of his career (he will fight only one more time, against Toney). Mike was a great champion and a very solid fighter, Roy was in his prime and completely dominated the match, even inflicting a knockdown on McCallum. But I always had the impression that Roy didn't want to push hard out of respect for his friend, simply controlling the match comfortably (120-107 on all three scorecards speak volumes). This is just my impression, of course, there's no proof of this. The only thing we know is that the two were friends and that Mike needed the money.
Wilder's fight with Dustin Nichols was fixed. Nichols rocked Wilder's world with that check jab and then we are supposed to believe that The Worm just folds like a lawn chair? Ain't foolin' nobody fam.
McCallum was a dangerous puncher and Roy's chin was proven to be shakey later in his career. That may have been caused by going up and down in weight. But, what you are saying is Roy didn’t beat Mike more, and that was fixed? I don't think Mike was every stopped, or even dropped but I can't say I've seen every one of his fights. Fixing to me is where a guy who can win lets another guy win.
If AJ had lost, how much money would have been lost on the planned Fury fight and everything tied to it? With that much at stake, do you really think nobody would have stepped in to protect the investment? What would they have done—make sure Prenga didn't win? What was Prenga's biggest payday to date and given the number of fixed fights we've seen, do you think it's would take much money to pay him off? Why did Prenga suddenly stop throwing punches in round two after dominating round one? Are AJ, Prenga, and much of the media presenting verified facts, or are they simply repeating a narrative that protects the event? Watch the fight yourself: does it look like Prenga suddenly stopped punching and allowed AJ to take over? The obvious and logical answer is Prenga threw the fight. If you are stupid or you have a vested interest, you may have a different opinion.