Not unless they have seen the complete fight instead of just edited highlights,and no one living has!
it's just a widely cited Bout that often gets thrown into such conversations, you know, like Ali - Norton... I just thought some nice Footage of this bout was a complement to the thread. is there Full Fight footage available, perhaps, perhaps not, but this is nice footage all the same, was it a Robbery, it is generally reported as one. Historically that is what we rely on, ReportS... widely Reported ones. if you don't think it's a Robbery that's fine, it matters too me not. I am simply just contributing to a thread on an ALREADY Generally Consensus, widely reported. that's it!
My point stands.I don't know if it was a robbery because I haven't seen the whole fight! A fight I haven't watched, one which the majority of the press [unlike the Louis v Walcott fight where a third of the press voted for Louis,] thought Basilio won, is the first Basilio v Saxton fight.
My Top historically most signifficant 5 HW robberies: 1. Norton - Ali III - > Kenny deserved to win a championship inside the ring + he would be the only men to beat Muhammad Ali twice...some say 3 times ;-) 2. Holyfield - Valuev -> Evander would have been the oldest to win the HW title at an age of 46! 3. Foreman - Briggs -> Foreman would have been the oldest man who defended a HW title by far (at the age of nearly 49) 4. Patterson - Ellis -> Floyd was about to be the first guy to win the HW title 3 times. 5 Tie: Schulz - Foreman -> Schulz would have been the 2nd German HW champion. Walcott - Louis -> Walcott would be the second guy to beat the great Joe Louis (pretty much close to his prime...other than Marciano)
How about adding Mate Parlov-John Conteh to the mix? John was n't at his best but still did enough to win that one.
"Top 5 Worst Boxing Decisions or Robberies." Of course, some of these may be in the eye of the beholder, so this is my opinion. 1) Juan Coggi v Eder Gonzalez I (WBA 140 lb. title) Referee Isidro Rodriguez was the main culprit for this travesty, but he also got help from the timekeeper, the Coggi corner and the WBA and Argentine commissions who both looked the other way as this was unfolding. In the 2nd round, Gonzalez caught Coggi and he was done like dinner. Coggi was like a drunken sailor, but the ref wouldn't pull the plug and Coggi's corner was allowed to get up on the ring apron and grab Coggi's trunks to hold him up while the timekeeper rang the bell early. Over the next few rounds and early bells again allowed several more times so Coggi could regain his senses, he did so and ended the bout in the 7th. Gonzalez got a rematch but he was deprived of that title first time around. 2) Jose Napoles v Armando Muniz I (welterweight title) Again, like the above, the referee was the main culprit. Referee Ramon Berumen - no stranger to controversy - was despicably partial to the champion. Also the Mexican commission and WBC, specifically Jose Sulaiman, even local politicians. Muniz was tearing Napoles apart. Had him ripped to shreds, had him hurt bad late in the 10th round and with his title slipping Napoles went all out in the 11th with low blows on Muniz, who was actually lifting his leg to ward off the low blows while the ref watched. Muniz said he did not retaliate because Berumen was waiting for him to do so, so he could DQ him. Finally the doctor said Napoles simply could not continue, but Berumen got together with Sulaiman and stated due to headbutts (no warnings or point deductions) in the 3rd and 5th rounds, Napoles retains his title on a technical decision. Despite a rematch, Muniz was deprived of that title. After those travesties, when it comes to decisions I looked at some of my wider point spreads and came up with: 3) Alfredo Escalera v Tyrone Everett (WBC jr. lightweight title) I must admit I no longer remember my score, only that I had Everett substantially ahead and felt that was the most blatantly worst decision I had seen. In his home town no less. 4) Tied for 4th would be Lennox Lewis v Evander Holyfield I (for Lewis' WBC title and Holyfield's WBA and IBF title) I had it 118-112 for Lewis. The Draw depriving him of Holy's 2 titles 4) Emile Griffith v Luis Rodriguez IV (welterweight title) I had it 71-65 for Rodriguez. The 6 points spread of the 2 above fights is the most I've had. Two more that I'll add are two 5 point spreads from Nelson v Fenech I (117-112 for Fenech) and Hiroshi Kobayashi v Antonio Amaya (70-65 for Amaya) both for the jr. lightweight title. So using the wide point spread criteria, I suppose these would be my widest and worst decisions.
There are too many to mention. Some that stand out this morning: * Roy Jones-Park Si Hun (1988 Olympic Final. Jones lost a terrible decision in the gold medal round. It was found out later the judges were bribed. Jones received the Val Barker Cup naming him the best boxer of the Games, even though he took home silver. Park later said he wished his hand hadn't been raised, said he was confused and embarrassed on the medal stand, Park raised Roy's hand as they received their medals, and Park said he should'ved been awarded the silver.) * Paul Williams-Erislandy Lara (All three judges were suspended in New Jersey and sent back to "boxing judge" school) Harold Valan deserves his own special "wing" in the Hall of Robberies. * Valan only judged one Light Heavyweight Title fight. In 1967, Valan awarded Dick Tiger the rematch against Jose Torres, resulting in a full-scale riot at Madison Square Garden. * Harold Valan only refereed two Heavyweight Title fights. In 1968, Valan, was the referee and sole judge in the Ellis-Patterson fight, awarded the fight to Ellis, who needed almost a full year to recover from his beating. Valan didn't get another heavyweight title fight assignment for 11 years. In that bout, in 1979, Valan waived off the Holmes-Weaver fight in the 12th round at Madison Square Garden to save Holmes, who found himself in a war with the unknown Weaver. Valan never got another heavyweight title fight assignment. * In 1977, Valan also scored the Johnny Boudreax-Scott Ledoux fight for Boudreaux in the infamous U.S. Boxing Championships tournament on ABC in 1977. The decision prompted a grand jury investigation and led to the alphabet sanctioning bodies taking over the sport. When Harold Valan was assigned to a card, it was best to hire more security and lawyers.
Dubble, don't forget the 1973 Ernie Terrell v Chuck Wepner non-title fight (It was 12 rounds for the mythical American title). Again, Harold Valan as sole official (who in their right mind would let this guy be a sole arbiter?). According to reports Terrell outpoints Chuck easily (Ring mag scored it 9-3 Terrell) but Valan gave it to Wepner. What can you do?!
Because,imo,if you haven't seen the full fight ,you aren't in a position to call a verdict a robbery.
