Curious as well here .. Because you do not think Pep separated his shoulder? or that Pep was ahead on the cards in most the fights before Saddler started to play the dirty card if you will?
Sometimes the Mob would set up a series of fights. There's an agreement that fighter A wins the first, fighter B wins the second and the 3rd fight is on the up and up. They dont look right imo. I think Willie was in hot water later on for playing ball with the Mob I believe it was against LuLu Perez..not positive but it was later in his career.
Willie knew how to handle the dirty tactics. Hell he probably invented half of them. They both were over the top with the dirty tactics. I'm not certain but suspicious.
I would recommend watching and or listening to the fights before conjuring up out of thin air the idea that they were fixed. Pep tried his hardest to win. They were vicious fights but Saddler simply just kept coming and walked through everything Pep hit him with (and he hit him with a lot).
Zach Parker - Darryll Williams, horrid decision, deeply affected Williams who's had problems with mental health in the past. Very sad.
Frankie Duarte vs Bernardo Pinango for the WBA Bantamweight title. Pinango was knocked down twice, had two points deducted for low blows and somehow made it out with a UD.
Gavilan v Waterman was held up as one of the worst decisions ever seen in a British ring at the time.
I thought Chavez got licked by Kamau. Kind of like the Ali====Young decison; scores were right, wrong guy announced as the winner.
Have you seen the picture of Pep's eye after the second fight, which he, by the way, won by a 15-round decision? It is the most grotesque picture of an injured eye that I have ever seen. I am convinced that Pep "retired" in the fourth fight because he feared losing the vision in his eye, which was badly cut.The second fight had made him more protective of his sight. As for the third fight, he nearly had his arm ripped out of its socket. The fights were "controversial" only because the rules of ring combat were so flagrantly violated.
I knew his eye was swollen but I have not seen a close up. It certainly was an odd series of fights. For probably 2 of the top 3 Feathers to lace them up. Perhaps the stink around them was just the excessive fouling. Boxing can be rough but I find it odd they took it that far.