Do you think some knockdowns in history had been staged?

[Mugwump]

A few years back I took a short-term contract providing database support for one of the UK's biggest bookmakers. They had a room in the basement behind a pair of two-inch thick solid steel doors where they used row after row of super-fast servers to sift through many thousands of bets placed each day for "suspicious activity". And they picked up A LOT.

I didn't have clearance to work in there but I knew some of the guys who did and used to talk with them on my lunch break.

In their opinion corruption is endemic throughout global professional sport. Indeed, they often joked that if people knew the full extent of it there'd be "blood on the streets" (their words).

[Anthony342]

I disagree on this point. IMO, there's a direct relationship between the level of money in a sport and the level of corruption. I just think the crooks are far less obvious these days. They don't wander around bars frequented by players with brown envelopes stuffed with cash.

That's because it can be done digitally by people with computer hacking skills, making it harder to detect.

[Dempsey-Louis]

I wanted to post an old newspaper article regarding a proposed fix for the Gans-Nelson bout but I am unable to post a pic until I have 15 posts. This is post 15; next post should have the newspaper article unless there is another rule. Sorry to waste your time.

[Dempsey-Louis]

A little corruption from the past

[BRAUUUN]

That was Malik Scott. It was suspicious looking but not conclusively a dive imo.

What do you mean "not conclusively a dive" the punch didn't even hit him.

[Tom Cruise]

What do you mean "not conclusively a dive" the punch didn't even hit him.

Therr was a punch that landed just before the one that missed iirc. Didnt look like the hardest shot but sometimes they dont.

It didnt look normal so a dive is definitely on the cards.

[Humean]

Out of all the world title fights caught on film the only knockout I think was a dive was Carnera's uppercut against Jack Sharkey in 1933.

Taking a 'dive' isn't the best way to 'fix' a fight, forcing one of the fighters to fight with the handcuffs on and/or bribing the referee/judges was always the preferred method and that probably happened in a handful of cases in world title fights in the first half of the 20th century but certainly not in the majority of world title fights, it was far more common in non-title fights. I'm pretty sure it wasn't actually illegal to bribe a referee/judge in the US until the 1960s.

[Juan Acero]

Out of all the world title fights caught on film the only knockout I think was a dive was Carnera's uppercut against Jack Sharkey in 1933.

I've always found this one silly.
When was the last time you watched it???

The reaction to the uppercut is legit...
Also watch his right foot as the shot connects...

And Just before this Sharky lands a crushing right that momentarily stuns Carnera.

Watch his left foot when he starts to come to.
It's like a drunk man trying to climb the stairs in the dark.

If this was a fix. It was an unusual and extraordinarily well acted one...

[Humean]

I've always found this one silly.
When was the last time you watched it???

The reaction to the uppercut is legit...
Also watch his right foot as the shot connects...

And Just before this Sharky lands a crushing right that momentarily stuns Carnera.

Watch his left foot when he starts to come to.
It's like a drunk man trying to climb the stairs in the dark.

If this was a fix. It was an unusual and extraordinarily well acted one...

I've seen it many times. I agree that Sharkey appears to be trying in the fight which is evidence against it being a fix, he was certainly not behaving like Graziano against Chuck Davey although the fact that the knockout came just a few seconds after Sharkey had landed his best punch of the fight might be significant. You are certainly right that the way Sharkey's feet are moving when he is being lifted to his corner is good evidence that it was legit and that if it was fixed it was a very well acted one.

My problem with it has always been the way that Sharkey's entire upper body springs up and then back, i'm not sure if I've ever seen an uppercut having that sort of an effect but perhaps it was simply the effect of Carnera's forearm lifting Sharkey up. If you or anyone else can post some footage of similar effects from other fights then please do as i'm be more than happy to change my mind and be convinced that the fight was on the level. So it is really that coupled with the shadiness of the people around both Carnera (who certainly 'won' a number of fixed fights) and Sharkey, and that Carnera never looked capable of delivering a punch like that before or after.

It was an extraordinary result either way.

[phallus]

Ali-Liston II, very obvious when a guy who is supposed to be knocked out by a phantom punch has the wherewithal to cover his eyes from the blinding lights above the ring.

this is probably the most famous dive ever, its no secret that liston was close to the mob and they probably gave him a lot of cash after

Hops-oscar was the fakest body shot ko ive ever seen lol. Oscar is a terrible actor

Terrible at acting ko'd or hetero. You're not kidding.

I have always felt that college basketball "point shaving" (circa 1955) was the most ingenious fix ever devised.

1. The college players were broke and could be bought cheap.

2. The corrupt player wasn't asked to lose the game but just win within the point spread, (and unlike the NBA, college basketball point spreads were usually much wider, giving the corrupt player more leeway.)

3. And finally, the better (expected) team wins anyway so no one takes notice (except other gamblers).

P.S. A second attempt at this scam in the 1980s (by the infamous Henry Hill) was a disaster. The point spreads had tightened and the poor corrupt players tried their best but the gangsters kept losing their bets. (There is a recent documentary about one of those players getting black-balled from the NBA.)

point shaving is a smart scam, its a little harder to prove and i think its in major league baseball too. i could easily see how some dumb errors could be made by the pitcher or fielders to allow the other team to score a run or two and make the game closer