The biggest robberies in boxing history after Taylor beats Catterall
The night Floyd Mayweather ‘lost’, Lennox Lewis’ undisputed farce against Evander Holyfield and Julio Cesar Chavez getting away with one… the biggest robberies in boxing history after Josh Taylor’s controversial win over Jack Catterall
- Josh Taylor picked up a controversial win over Jack Catterall at the weekend
- Many felt Catterall deserved to dethrone the undisputed light-welterweight king
- But Taylor edged a split-decision victory which sparked uproar on social media
- It certainly isn’t the first time a fighter has been robbed on the scorecards
- Floyd Mayweather got away with one early in his career vs Jose Luis Castillo
- Lennox Lewis and Manny Pacquiao have been on the wrong end of bad decisions
- Sportsmail has looked back at some of the biggest robberies in boxing history
When Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall stood alongside referee Marcus McDonnell to await the verdict of their undisputed light-welterweight bout, in the eyes of virtually every spectator there was only one man whose hand was going to be raised.
Or so we thought.
Instead of Catterall becoming the new 140lbs king, which his slick, efficient and dominant performance on the night had undoubtedly merited, Taylor somehow held onto his belts by the skin of his teeth with a gift of a split-decision victory.
Josh Taylor picked up a controversial victory over Jack Catterall in Glasgow on Saturday night
Many felt Catterall (R) had done enough to dethrone the undisputed light-welterweight king
The result sparked widespread outrage in both British and world boxing but as any fan of the sport knows, it is merely the newest addition to a never-ending list of farcical decisions.
After the latest stinker, Sportsmail has taken a look at 10 of the biggest robberies in boxing history.
Evander Holyfield vs Lennox Lewis 1
A March 1999 showdown between Holyfield, who held the WBA and IBF titles, and WBC champion Lewis was supposed to crown the first undisputed heavyweight king in seven years. Ultimately, that didn’t prove the case.
Holyfield came into the bout on the back of victories over Vaughn Bean, Michael Moorer and Mike Tyson (twice), while Lewis was enjoying a nine-fight win streak after his shock knockout defeat against Oliver McCall five years earlier.
Though despite promising so much, their meeting at Madison Square Garden failed to live up to the hype, with Lewis dominating the majority of it behind a stiff, long jab and Holyfield afforded little success throughout.
When the final bell sounded, Lewis had outlanded the Atlanta fighter by more than 200 punches (348 to 130) and it was widely expected that he would be crowned undisputed champion after a comfortable 12 rounds.
Lennox Lewis (L) was dealt a similar disservice when he met Evander Holyfield in 1999
That was before scorecards which remain unfathomable to this day were read out, drawing a collective gasp from the fans in attendance.
Stanley Christodoulou was seemingly the only judge with his eyes open on the night, scoring it 116-113 in Lewis’ favour, yet Eugenia Williams inexplicably had Holyfield a 115-113 winner.
And to everyone’s dismay, Larry O’Connell could not split the two fighters with a 115-115 scorecard, meaning both men retained their respective titles and Lewis missed out on the chance to reign supreme.
Fortunately for the Brit, he only had to wait another eight months to beat Holyfield in a rematch, this time sweeping up all three heavyweight straps when the right decision was awarded after 12 rounds.
Lewis and Holyfield collided for the undisputed heavyweight crown in Las Vegas
The Brit clearly got the better of the contest and appeared to cruise to a routine victory
But despite getting the better of their clash, Lewis was forced to settle for a draw on the night
Manny Pacquiao vs Timothy Bradley
Pacquiao staked a claim to being the best fighter on the planet when he defended his WBO welterweight title against former light-welterweight champion Bradley in June 2012.
The Filipino, with his lightning speed and concussive punch power, was on the crest of a wave after winning his last 15 contests and cementing his place as arguably the top pound-for-pound star of the sport.
For that reason, not many were picking Bradley, a solid fighter but no world beater like Pacquiao, to spring an upset, and as their clash at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena played out it quickly became apparent why that was.
Pacquiao controlled the action in Sin City, peppering his foe with a series of straight lefts and outlanding him significantly throughout, with CompuBox statistics showing he had connected with more punches in 10 of the 12 rounds they shared.
Manny Pacquiao (R) was on the wrong end of a stinker against Timothy Bradley (L) in 2012
Bradley somehow prevailed despite Pacquiao dominating their WBO welterweight scrap
He should’ve retained his 147lbs strap and extended his winning run to 16 fights, however Pacquiao was instead left reeling from his first defeat in seven years when Bradley snatched a puzzling split-decision win (115-113, 115-113, 113-115).
Legendary trainer Emmanuel Steward said he was ‘dumbfounded’ at the result, while Bradley himself initially admitted he needed to ‘watch the tapes’ back.
After being knocked out cold by arch-rival Juan Manuel Marquez in his next bout, Pacquiao went on to record two points victories over Bradley and regain his WBO title in the process.
However, Bradley has since admitted he did not deserve to inflict Pac-Man’s fourth career loss.
Pernell Whitaker vs Julio Cesar Chavez
Whitaker and Chavez were universally recognised as the two leading fighters in world boxing at the time of their September 1993 clash, in which the former put his newly-captured WBC welterweight title on the line.
At the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, fans were hoping to finally discover which great was the true No 1 in a highly-anticipated contest fought at a catchweight of 145lbs.
Chavez, a former champion at light-welterweight, lightweight and super-featherweight, ventured into this date of destiny with a remarkable 87-0 record, however it was Whitaker (32-1) who dominated proceedings on the night.
Sweet Pea, arguably the greatest defensive fighter in history and an ex-title holder at 140 and 135lbs, looked to have derailed Chavez’s attempts to become Mexico’s first ever four-weight world champion when he seized control of the bout from the third round onwards and bamboozled his arch-rival.
Almost resembling a bull chasing down a matador, the American picked off Chavez with ease and even appeared to win many of the inside exchanges, which many felt would be his undoing on the night.
Pernell Whitaker (left) was denied a clear victory in his 1993 bout against Julio Cesar Chavez
The pro-Chavez crowd became more and more subdued as the fight went on, but when the final bell sounded they were gifted an unjustifiable cause for celebration when their man escaped with a draw.
After a 115-113 score in Whitaker’s favour felt far too close, two puzzling scores of 115-115 meant both men were somehow left with a share of the spoils.
Sports Illustrated ran a cover with the headline ‘Robbed’ blazoned across Whitaker’s perplexed face, while esteemed boxing writer Bert Sugar urged fans not to buy his Boxing Illustrated magazine if they felt Chavez was deserving of the draw. A rematch between Whitaker and Chavez never took place.
Floyd Mayweather vs Jose Luis Castillo
Mayweather’s army of critics often point to his contentious April 2002 victory over Castillo as the night his impeccable record should have been breached for the very first time.
The future five-weight champion, who retired in 2017 having won all 50 of his professional contests, had burst onto the scene and captured the WBC super-featherweight title before moving up to 135lbs to lock horns with Castillo.
Due to his rough and gritty fighting style, and seemingly inferior footwork, the Mexican was initially viewed as a tailor-made opponent for Mayweather up in his new weight class, but their WBC championship bout certainly didn’t play out that way.
Many felt Floyd Mayweather (R) should have lost against Jose Luis Castillo in 2002
Castillo defied the odds to seemingly inflict the first defeat of Mayweather’s career
Instead, he was on the wrong end of an unforeseen humbling in Las Vegas, where Castillo defied the majority of pre-fight predictions by imposing his natural strength and wearing the favourite down as the rounds went on.
At the business end of the fight, he even managed to cut the ring off, attack to the body and pressure Mayweather like no other fighter had so far managed in his six-year career.
The general consensus was that Castillo had done more than enough to provide the first blemish on Mayweather’s CV. HBO’s Harold Lederman, scoring from ringside for the broadcasters, had him a 115-111 winner.
Yet astonishingly, fierce controversy followed when Mayweather picked up a much-disputed unanimous-decision victory.
The American ran out a much more comfortable winner when they met again eight months later, however many still take issue with his 50-0 record because of that controversial first encounter.
But it was the future 50-0 great who prevailed thanks to some controversial scorecards
Oscar de la Hoya vs Felix Sturm
It goes without saying that money talks in boxing, and you could not have blamed Sturm for arguing that the result of his June 2004 showdown with the sport’s No 1 pay-per-view attraction was already decided before a punch had been thrown.
After losing his unified light-middleweight titles in a controversial defeat against Shane Mosley, De la Hoya moved up to 160lbs and set his sights on unified champion Bernard Hopkins in his bid to become a six-weight world champion.
The Mexican’s first outing at middleweight saw him take on unbeaten WBO chief Sturm on a joint doubleheader PPV event which also included Hopkins’ battle with mandatory challenger Robert Allen, which he first came through comfortably.
It was then over to De La Hoya to set up their mega-fight by seeing off Sturm, though his plans appeared in ruins when the German kept him at bay with a ramrod jab and counterpunched his way to what most felt was a commanding lead.
Oscar de la Hoy looked a shadow of his former self in his 2004 battle with Felix Sturm
De la Hoya, clearly struggling with the extra weight, looked a shadow of the fighter that had captured glory in five lower divisions and landed just 188 of his 792 punches, giving him a 24 per cent success rate.
Sturm celebrated when the final bell sounded, thinking he had just upset the apple cart and derailed his opponent’s hopes of colliding with Hopkins next. HBO commentators Jim Lampley and Roy Jones Jr also felt he had prevailed.
However, in the end De la Hoya escaped with a shock unanimous decision, clearing the coast for a shot at the undisputed crown thanks to three scores of 115-113.
‘I know Oscar is a big name here and a great champion,’ Sturm said, ‘but tonight, I think the whole world saw who was the better fighter.’
But with a mega-fight against Bernard Hopkins lined up, De la Hoya escaped with the win
Pernell Whitaker vs Jose Luis Ramirez 1
His draw with Chavez is perhaps the most infamous, but for many the biggest travesty Whitaker ever suffered in a boxing ring came five years earlier against Ramirez.
Controversy was rife long before the first bell sounded at the Stade de Levallois in Paris, France. Whitaker’s manager, Shelly Finkel, claimed an all-Mexican bout between Ramirez and Chavez had already been arranged next, with WBC President Jose Sulaiman reportedly interested in seeing his countrymen collide for their lightweight title.
Those allegations made what eventually occurred in Paris all the more suspicious, as Whitaker cruised to what he felt was a one-sided triumph, putting on a boxing clinic in the French capital.
It could well have been argued that he took nine of the 12 rounds that were on offer.
Though despite outclassing Ramirez, Whitaker’s trainer-manager Lou Duva could be heard protesting the result before it was even announced. He had been tipped off that they were about to be robbed on the scorecards.
Whitaker was also subjected to another travesty when he was beaten by Jose Luis Ramirez
Judge Harry Gibbs scored it 115-113 in their favour, only for Louis Michel to deem Ramirez a 116-115 winner and Newton Campos – in what remains one of the worst scorecards boxing has ever seen – gave it to the Mexican with an unfeasibly wide tally of 118-113.
Whitaker sunk to his knees, before a seething Duva yelled: ‘Sulaiman is nothing but a goddarn thief. ‘He gave these guys (the judges) orders. I appeared at the rules meeting and I predicted what was gonna happen; I said we were gonna get robbed.’
Ramirez went on to suffer defeat against Chavez seven months later, and Whitaker eventually got his revenge by claiming a unanimous decision in their 1989 rematch.
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