Comments Thread For: The Psychology of Conspiracy in Boxing: Why close decisions feel like robberies

[lilacp]

Yes, plenty of accusations of robbery are bs, especially when you have close to half or more people saying a decision was fair.

But to ignore the corrupt history of the sport and how it typically favors boxers with a bigger public value and managers with deeper pockets is, simply put, ignorant and bad journalism.

[Coverdale]

Excellent article. The cult of conspiracy thinking is one of the many reasons I don't use social media and it's often very apparent to me which forum posters have been allured by this way of thinking.

If there were dark forces behind every major boxing decision why would they stop at paying judges (is it one, two or all three?), why not have a sniper shoot the opponent boxer, poison him, etc.? Why is direct evidence of the corruption almost never seen?

[Coverdale]

always follow the money trail - who's the Las Vegas favourite? Between Golovkin and Canelo?
Judges are paid $3-5000 per big fight? But tens of millions are sloshing around. It makes zero sense to assume that all judges are saints and will never accept a bribe. Human nature and numbers game, ie a percentage will.
What kind of bribe? Money in an off-shore account, all-paid holiday at luxury villa in Dominican Republic, cry...pto currency?
Who would ever know? Who is checking?

As an example - all 3 judges scored the first 5 rounds for Canelo vs Bivol - how is that even possible?

A State Senate Committee investigated Eugenia Williams after Lewis - Holyfield 1 and found nothing. She scored a couple rounds incorrectly, that was it.

[SteveM]

A State Senate Committee investigated Eugenia Williams after Lewis - Holyfield 1 and found nothing. She scored a couple rounds incorrectly, that was it.

How many times are state senate commottees convened? IF you dig deep enough and IF have unlimited, international investigatory powers you will find something if it's there to be found - but those are two big IFs

[SteveM]

Excellent article. The cult of conspiracy thinking is one of the many reasons I don't use social media and it's often very apparent to me which forum posters have been allured by this way of thinking.

If there were dark forces behind every major boxing decision why would they stop at paying judges (is it one, two or all three?), why not have a sniper shoot the opponent boxer, poison him, etc.? Why is direct evidence of the corruption almost never seen?

God bless your innocence - you seem to have led a sheltered life and never been exposed to corruption which comes in multiple forms and isn't transparent to the average bystander. Cash bribes are obvious corruption but even the promise of repeated judging gigs in return for favourable scorecards would be corruption. There are the same half dozen judges used by the Nevada commission for big fights - are we to believe there is a shortage of people capable of judging big fights? For most fights they can turn in good cards because there's no advantage seen in either fighter but when it comes to a cash machine boxer who draws large crowds to Vegas and specifically the casinos then thats where we often see bad cards.

[B_Murphington]

This article fails to recognize when a bout was clearly one sided, but the decision goes the wrong way. That is where the real outrage and calls for corruption comes from.

Most people understand when a bout is close, there is no call for robbery or corruption. In cases like Lara losing to Paul Williams, it is a clear robbery.

And that seems to happen more than it should. And that’s what is ruining the sport.

[CPNUTKnockoutFreshMart]

One thing that would cut down on the accusations and conspiracy theories is if Boxing Judging wasn't hidden behind layers of silence. If Judges were able to explain their decisions of why they gave a fighter certain rounds. When almost everyone sees one thing and someone else sees something that makes no sense to the majority , they should be obliged to explain themselves to the public. The silence and secrecy only serves to feed the mistrust and conspiratorial thinking.

[Basco]

If its a close fight, somebody will always cry robbery!

[CPNUTKnockoutFreshMart]

If the fight is close, why not have them fight an extra round like in Kickboxing tournaments like Glory or ONE? Or shall we go back to 15 rounds championship fights?

There's a promotion named Overtime Boxing that doesn't allow draws. If there's a draw they fight another round , if that round is even they fight another one. I like that idea. The only thing that's bad is that they should be quicker in getting that " Overtime " round started.

[CPNUTKnockoutFreshMart]

There are the same half dozen judges used by the Nevada commission for big fights - are we to believe there is a shortage of people capable of judging big fights?

That's a really good point , it's always the same little group of judges and referees that get the lucrative assignments. It makes me wonder why when any licensed judge is capable of judging a fight . The criteria for scoring fights doesn't change based on who the fighters are.