Via Ken Hissner: When I watch commentators like Tim Bradley and Andre Ward, I sometimes think about their gift decisions for Bradley’s Manny Pacquiao and Sergey Kovalev’s first fight with Ward.
The worst decision this writer not only witnessed but was there as a fan when in November 1976 when Tyrone Everett lost to Alfredo Escalera of Puerto Rico despite being in Everett’s hometown of Philadelphia by decided to break up. He finished 36-1, with that being the only loss of his career. My scores helped Everett go up 13-2 in the innings. Pennsylvania Judge Lou Tress in favor of Escalera never judged a fight again.
In March 1950, at Madison Square Garden, Roland LaStarza, at the time, 37-0, lost a decisive match to Rocky Marciano, who was then 25-0. Many feel that LaStarza has won. It took three and a half years before there was a rematch with Marciano scoring in the eleventh round with the scores 7-3, 5-5, and 6-4 Marciano leading after ten rounds.
When you see the games replay over and over, it means that the first decision can be a bad decision or a real outcome. Sometimes there are more than two matches like Ali and Norton. After that, Arturo Gatti and Mikey Ward fought three times in a row to help Gatti win and end Ward’s career. Why three if all are fair decisions?
There was a time when a boxer fell behind when a cut stopped the match in his favor, like when in June 2003 when Lennox “The Lion” was 58-56 behind five rounds across all competitions. Scoreboard in front of Vitali “Dr. Ironfist” Klitschko on stopping in the sixth lap on the Lewis-leaning slide. A rematch would have been in order, but Lewis never rematched.
In June 1973, Chuck “The Bayonne Bleeder” Wepner made a decision on Ernie Terrell in Atlantic City when the sole umpire, umpire Harold Valan, scored it 7-5 Wepner. This writer heard it was a terrible decision.
Famed manager Jim Jacobs told this writer that the worst decision he ever witnessed in the movie “The Greatest Battle of the Century” was when Harold Johnson lost the title to Willie Pastrano. in June 1963 in Las Vegas, Nevada by divorce decision. No rematch clause?
When I first met Johnson in the stands at a boxing event, I asked, “How did the beggar Pastrano (not a bum but a good boxer) beat you?” Johnson is a class act, to which he replied, “he’s a good boxer!” While not a WBA or WBC champion, those two titles are at stake. Johnson was the champion of the National Boxing Association at the time.
In June 2012, while watching the first of three, they battled “Desert Storm” Tim, Bradley received a gift decision for Manny Pacquiao. A boxer Dennis Hasson also competed in the Northern Michigan U, where Bradley settled Bradley, agreeing that he had lost. Pac-Man won the next two meetings between the two, with Bradley eventually retiring.
Recently, even Floyd “Money” Mayweather’s father said he felt his son lost to Jose Luis Castillo in April 2002 in their first fight, which I feel too. Close enough to have a rematch in their next game, with the score even closer in the rematch. Both fights were in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In November 2016, this writer feels Ward lost to Kovalev in their first meeting, with all three judges scoring 114-113. In their next game, it was one with Ward going on top, stopping Kovalev in the round of 16 with the score after seven innings in favor of Ward 67-66 twice and 68-65 to Kovalev.
It was Ward’s last fight.
In March 1970, local favorite Augie Pantellas received a gift decision for Ruben DeJesus at the Philadelphia Arena. The loser is even a substitute. Local fans started throwing things after the decision was announced.
The other riot this writer attended was in October 2014 at Schuetzen Park, in North Bergen, New Jersey, when Juan “The Beast” Rodriguez was the local favorite despite the front being cut. if I’m not mistaken due to a random clash of heads when play was stopped in his favor by technical decision late in the round.
Then, suddenly, Rodriguez’s Spanish fans started throwing chairs and even breaking large wall mirrors. Matter of action www.boxrec.com shows: A melee broke out in the crowd as match 5 was about to begin. EMTs took an injured person to the hospital, and the fight could not continue because there were no ambulances.
Well, fighting the fans, what are some of the bad decisions you’ve seen?
