In Pics : Top 10 Worst Boxing Moments In History

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5. International Boxing Federation Ranking Scandal




The IBF, among other entities, is a major sanctioning body based in New Jersey. The way boxing works: each sanctioning body has a champion and champions are only allowed to fight boxers ranked in the top 15. Ranking committees determine who gets ranked. Ranking committee chairmen have the final say and are notoriously corruptible.


In November 1999 IBF president Bob Lee Sr. was indicted and convicted on numerous racketeering charges. Lee was conspiring with his rankings chairman C. Douglass Beavers to rig the rankings system to favor boxers whose promoters and handlers paid them cash bribes. The duo routinely took hundreds of thousands of dollars from the likes of Don King and Cedric Kushner in return for artificial inflation of the rankings of their fighters. Promoters who didn’t pay didn’t see title fights. The result, a completely corrupt system that was not in any way based on merit. Another black eye for boxing.

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4. Jim Norris: Boxing’s Not So Golden Age




James D. Norris was a very wealthy and an extremely powerful man in the mid 20th century. He owned many companies and was heavily involved in the sports world: he owned a National Hockey League franchise, a major stake in Madison Square Garden, and champion racehorses. Jim Norris was also a very unsavory individual and was widely known to associate with criminals. As president of the International Boxing Club, Norris had a virtual monopoly on championship fights due to a lucrative contract the IBC had to broadcast fights on national television.


Jim Norris was personally responsible for fixing numerous bouts, including: Harry Thomas vs. Max Schmeling in 1937 and Jake Lamotta vs. Billy Fox in 1946. His corruption knew no limits. Besides match fixing he was also unofficially managing many boxers (usually against their will) and persuading them to hire his associates as advisors. Norris’ actions perpetuated a chain of farces, which were passed off as competitive bouts to an unsuspecting public- helping to erode boxing’s intregrity. (Image: Legends of Hockey. James Norris is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.)

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3. 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea




Many people remember a young Roy Jones Jr. being robbed of a gold medal by corrupt Olympic judges, but few remember the even uglier incident that preceded it. New Zealander Keith Walker was officiating a bantamweight bout between Byun Jong Il of South Korea and Alexander Hristov of Bulgaria. The fight was an ugly foul-filled affair and Walker had to repeatedly penalize Jong for head ****ing.


At the conclusion of the fight Hristov was announced the winner but this only incensed Jong’s countrymen. Numerous South Korean boxing officials and coaches stormed the ring and viciously attacked referee Keith Walker with punches, kicks, bottles, and even chairs. The terrified Walker barely escaped serious injury and directly headed to the airport and took the first plane back to New Zealand.



Shamed and embarrassed, the Korean Boxing Federation president and the president of the Korean Olympic Committee both resigned after this deplorable incident. (Photo: Byun Jong II sits in the ring and refuses to get up.)

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2. The Actions of Panama Lewis






At one time Carlos “Panama” Lewis was a world-class trainer. His character, on the other hand was anything but world class. Despite already being under a cloud of suspicion for allegedly giving his boxers water spiked with illegal stimulants and for gambling on fights that he was involved in; Panama Lewis concocted a wicked plan for his figher Luis Resto. Resto was nothing more than a journeyman fighter or simply a professional opponent when he took on undefeated rising star Billy Collins Jr, on June 16, 1983.

Knowing Resto was overmatched, Panama and another trainer removed padding from Resto’s gloves and poured an illegal hardening agent on his hand wraps. Luis Resto proceeded to brutalize his unsuspecting opponent for 10 rounds. After being declared the winner Resto approached Collins’ corner. Collins’ father, who at that point was suspicious of Resto’s new found power, touched Resto’s hand and immediately notified ringside officials (see video).

The gloves and hand wraps in question were confiscated by the state Athletic Commission and both were brought up on charges. Panama Lewis and Luis Resto both had their licenses permanently revoked and were given prison sentences. Sadly, Billy Collins Jr. would never fight again, his once promising career shattered by the injuries he received. Collins Jr. was dead less than one year later, suicide was suspected.

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1. The Death of Duk Koo Kim





A superstar in South Korea, Kim had risen all the way to number one lightweight contender and earned a world title shot against the famed Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini on November 13, 1982. The bout was extremely brutal, especially for Kim, who had begun to wear down in the latter rounds after absorbing tremendous punishment from the champion. In the early part of the 14th round Mancini hit Kim with a crushing right hand that caused him to fly toward the ropes and hit his head on the canvas.

Kim managed to rise but the referee stopped the fight. Minutes later Duk Koo Kim collapsed into a coma and was carried out of the ring and taken directly to the hospital. Tragically the Korean star died 4 days later from severe brain trauma. Out of the hundreds of recorded ring fatalities Kim’s death was one of the saddest. Kim’s opponent Ray Mancini would never again be the same caliber fighter and it was widely reported that he blamed himself for Kim’s death. Kim’s mother committed suicide three months after her son’s death by drinking a bottle of pesticide. The bout’s referee Richard Green, consumed by guilt, also committed suicide shortly after the fight.