Do Dives Happen and Why

Fair enough, I'm sure we do agree on much of what has been said here.

Nice one. :good

 

http://deadspin.com/why-i-fixed-fights-1535114232

Not only do dives happen, there's a number of different ways to do it (as Dubblechin mentioned in that great post). I'm not as convinced it's been eliminated at the world level as there's still too many ways to pull it off, not all of which are obvious. The root cause is always either money or promise of a future opportunity.

While not exactly a dive, a cousin is the "gentlemen's agreement", whereby each man agrees not to go too hard in exchange for a predetermined outcome. I firmly believe that Holyfield-Valuev was an example of this, and Lebedev-Roy Jones was an example of a gentlemen's agreement gone wrong: everything had been going according to script until Roy landed a bit too well, which prompted Lebedev to end it instead of being content to cruise to the points win.

Kotelnik-Alexander wasn't a gentlemen's agreement or scheduled dive per se, but there was in implication that he was there to be showcased for Alexander and he had his career blackballed by King for breaking the script.

That's one of the more insidious ways it's done- it's not that the other fighter receives greater financial gain for complying than if he'd fought honestly, but there's the threat of having your livelihood put on ice if you don't....which is just as powerful a motivator, if not moreso.

 

Jones Jr. has always been a clown and I guess Lebedev doesn't like clowns. Who can blame him?