What was the worst robbery?

Good pick. In fact a few of Whitakers fights could make the list of all time worst robberies. Pernell seemed to be the victom of bad decisions. Ramirez, Chavez, and to a lesser degree, De La Holya, were all fights that he might have been robbed in.

 

Whitaker had at many times an unpleasing, safety-first style that made his fights difficult to judge. Personally, I had him beating Chavez by one round so I do not consider it a robbery. Ramirez, on the other hand, was pretty drastic. And I had DLH beating him comfortably.

 

Ali-Norton III?
Well, I thought Norton just deserved the nod but it was a very close fight and Norton really didn't help himself by coasting that last round, even if he was only obeying orders. Close fights aren't robberies.

Louis vs Walcott I and Lewis vs Holyfield I were both awful decisions.

I've never seen Jack Johnson vs Jim Johnson.
Same with Sharkey vs Schmeling.

 

But no one has seen a film of Johnson versus Johnson to make a judgement.

It is not on your list, but I would have scored the first Frazier-Bonavena fight for Bonavena even under the round system then in place. If scored by points, it was not even a close call, in my judgement. Bonavena had his jab working for most of the fight.

 

Well the thing with Johnson vs Johnson is not regards to film or a points victory. It was that Jack Johnson QUIT, and yet was able to retain his title.

Thats like Futch thowing in the towel for Fraizer in the Thriller, and yet some how, Fraizer is declear the winner. or keeping the title or something.

 

Zarate-Pintor
Hearns-Leonard II

Ali-Young was stragely scored, but Young intentionally ducked out of the ropes a couple of times which is enough to disqualify him.

 

Robin Reid v Sven Ottke

 

But he wasn't disqualified. So the fight is scored on points. You can't play your own referee and and take away points for low blows or unscored knockdowns. It doesn't work like that. Ali held illegally behind the head all the time, but was never disqualifed for it. You think we should hand his opponents unrightful decisions for that reason?

 

Excellent call! Even Lupe was surprised when the decision was announced in his favor. (The fatal mistake Carlos made was in leaving any of his fights in the hands of the judges.)

Ray has very famously admitted that Tommy won that fight. (I wonder what other examples of this kind of extraordinary admission has been made by the beneficiaries of such poor decisions.)

That's why I felt at the time that Jimmy did not earn the title. On that night, I had been out, and came in to watch it at the midway point. Young wasn't expected to mount a serious challenge, so I made no special effort to catch it from the beginning. Of course I was shocked to learn that Jimmy was giving Muhammad a great deal of trouble. But by viewing only the latter portion of the bout, all I saw was how Young blew it. No, he wasn't disqualified, but the referee did penalize him by declaring an official knockdown when he lost his footing and was hanging through the ropes momentarily. To me, that was poetic justice.

By the same token, I do not consider Louis/Walcott I to have been a robbery. That one was scored on the rounds system, meaning that Jersey Joe's two knockdowns only counted for two rounds won, rather than the four total points he would have gained on the ten point must system. I had it even going into the final two rounds, which Walcott lost by running away. Yes, Walcott boxed brilliantly, but Louis was the one making the fight.

Tyrone Everett/Alfredo Escalera and Vilomar Fernandez/Howard Davis Jr. stick out in my mind. But at least Vilomar got a shot at Hilmer Kenty. Ditto for Jesse Burnett, after getting flagrantly robbed against Leon Spinks. Burnett was too long in the tooth by then to have any chance at winning the CW title, but it means a great deal to me that he, and not Leon, got the televised title bid he deserved.

Armando Muniz was cheated out of the WW Title against Napoles by Mantequilla's buddy Jose Sulaiman. Thanks to that piece of garbage, Carlos Palomino later became the first college graduate world champion. It really should have been Muniz with that historic distinction.

Saoul Mamby was robbed of a championship against Saensak Muangsurin, a verdict even Muangsurin's hometown crowd found disturbing.

 

maybe the judges marked Young down for using those tactics. Did he lose the rounds in which he did that?

 

I don't know what the breakdown was, round-by-round, but I vividly remember watching Ali calmly combing his hair while waiting for the decision, and my father saying, "Look at him. He's not worried." It was nothing like the sense prevailing before the scorecards were read after Spinks/Ali I. (What I really get a kick out of, is how Muhammad said after taking out Richard Dunn that, "If I was in the same kind of shape for this one that I was for Young, then Dunn would be the champion now." Imagine Dunn as the world heavyweight champion! That's as ridiculous an idea as...Leon Spinks!)

 

The worst robbery, in any weight class, that I have seen is Coggi-Gonzalez I.

 

For HW title fights, Foreman-Briggs should be nominated.

That was a terrible robbery for the linear title.

 

Hah...

And there in lies the reason it happened.

Same exact thing applies to Norton/Ali III.

 

Whitaker/Ramirez I