User:Halvorsen brian/Boxing match fixing

1890s

 * 1890:


 * 1890: A correspondent for the San Francisco Call accused boxer George Mulholland of taking a dive during a match against Wiley Evans in San Jose, California.


 * August 21, 1891:


 * December 28, 1891:


 * June 18, 1892:


 * December 26, 1895:


 * July 15, 1896: In Hartford, Connecticut boxer Stanton Abbott refused to fight his opponent, Tom Moriary, because there was not enough money wagered on the fight. The Waterbury Democrat pointed to that as evidence the fight was fixed.


 * December 2, 1896: The championship match between heavyweight boxers Bob Fitzsimmons and Tom Sharkey in San Francisco, California is suspected of being fixed. Referee Wyatt Earp stopped the match in the eight round due to a supposed foul by Fitzsimmons. Spectators immediately suspected a fix and the allegations were pushed by The San Francisco Call.


 * 1897:


 * 1897:


 * 1898:


 * December 2, 1898:


 * March 22, 1899:

1900s

 * August 8, 1900: Heavyweight boxer James J. Corbett knocked out Kid McCoy in the fifth round of a match at Madison Square Garden in New York City. According to Vice Sports, the match was widely considered fixed.


 * October 11, 1900:


 * December 13, 1900:


 * December 27, 1900:


 * 1900:


 * 1901:


 * 1902:


 * 1902:


 * 1903:


 * November 23, 1904: The Sun reported on rumors that the Tommy Ryan and Jack Root boxing match at National Athletic Club in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was fixed. They noted that there was no direct evidence to support the rumors.


 * February 22, 1905:


 * March 17, 1905:


 * 23 October 1905:


 * January 1906: The Salt Lake Tribune accused boxer Louie Long of purposely fouling his opponent in order to get disqualified during a fight against Lupe Carranza in Madera, California.


 * September 14, 1906:


 * 1906:


 * 1907:


 * 1907:


 * May 10, 1907:


 * May 14, 1907:


 * February 1, 1908:


 * 1908:


 * June 7, 1909:


 * 1909:


 * 1909:

1910s

 * May 19, 1910:


 * 1910:


 * 1910:


 * 1911:


 * 1912: Featherweight boxer Abe Attell was questioned by two members of the New York Boxing Commission about his loss to Knockout Brown at National Sporting Club in New York City. Investigators had suspicious that the fight was fixed, but lacked direct evidence.


 * 1912:


 * January 11, 1912:


 * March 10, 1912: Boxer Harlem Tommy Murphy accused Abe Attell of offering him $4,000 to take a dive during their bout in Dale City, California. According to Murphy, he was approached three times before the fight by Attell but gave him no answer. Murphy defeated Attell in 20 rounds by a unanimous decision. Attell denied the accusations.


 * 1913:


 * 1913:


 * April 21, 1913:


 * September 1913: Heavyweight boxer Arthur Pelkey, who was the reigning World White Heavyweight Champion, submitted a signed letter to Roscoe Fawcett, sports editor of The Oregonian, which stated that he was involved in a fixed match on March 26, 1913 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada under the direction of his manager Tommy Burns. Pelkey further alleged that Burns made the heavyweight sign over fifty percent of his earnings when he was in police custody awaiting a determination by the coroner if he was responsible for the in-ring death of his opponent Luther McCarty on May 24, 1913. McCarty's death was eventually ruled unrelated to that match and Pelkey continued his boxing career with Burns as his manager.


 * 1914:


 * 1914:


 * 1914:


 * 1914:


 * May 11, 1915: In Pendleton, Oregon, a fighter who claimed to be bantamweight boxer Frankie Conley in a match against Billy Farrell, was actually local lightweight fighter Joe Conley. According to the East Oregonian, Farrell and the fight's promoter, R. C. Shaw willfully misrepresented the match to increase ticket sales.


 * May 22, 1915:


 * 1915:


 * 1917: The Wisconsin Boxing Commission suspended lightweight boxer Freddie Welsh for one year for taking part in a fixed match against Richie Mitchell in Milwaukee.


 * 1917:


 * 1919: Muncie, Indiana Mayor Rollin H. Bunch was charged with conspiracy in United States Federal Court relating to his alleged role arranging fixed boxing matches.


 * 1919:


 * 1919:


 * 1919:

1920s

 * 1920:


 * 1920: Lightweight boxer Jim Johnson alleged he was offered $3,000 to take a dive against Chubby Brown in Syracuse, New York. Johnson later rescinded his accusation saying it was a publicity stunt.


 * January 23, 1920: The New Jersey Athletic Commission temporarily banned boxers Porky Flynn and Al Reich for participating in a fixed match on December 25, 1919 at the Palace Athletic Club in Trenton, New Jersey. Flynn and Reich were suspended for 12 months and six months, respectively.


 * July 26, 1920:


 * 1921:


 * 1921: Boxer Charley White sued the Wisconsin Boxing Commission for $50,000 in damages after they suspended his bout with Sailor Friedman in Kenosha, Wisconsin. In response to the lawsuit, the commission accused White of participating in fixed matches.


 * July 14, 1921:


 * September 22, 1922: at the Vélodrome Buffalo in Paris, France, the reigning World Light Heavyweight Champion Georges Carpentier took on Battling Siki in what was supposed to be a fixed fight, according to Siki. During the fight, Carpentier went back on a previous arrangement to not hurt Siki, although it is debated by Smithsonian.com writer Gilbert King whether or not Carpentier was in on the fix or if it was arranged by someone from his corner without his knowledge. Siki then decided to fight Carpenter without letting up, but was eventually disqualified in a controversial decision by referee M. Henri Bernstein. Later the decision was reversed and Siki was crowned the World Light Heavyweight Champion.


 * January 30, 1923:


 * December 15, 1923: Following a match between Frankie Schoell and Dave Shade, referee Dave Miller told reporters he was offered $500 to fix the match in favor of Schoell.


 * April 1924:


 * November 17, 1924: Boxers Fred Fulton and Tony Fuente were accused of fixing a fight in Los Angeles, California. The match lasted 35 seconds with Fuente throwing two punches. It was the last match fought under state rules that prohibited boxers from winning cash prizes.


 * 1925:


 * 1928:

1930s

 * April 1930:


 * 1936:


 * 1937:


 * 1937: The Louisiana State Athletic Commission suspended boxing manager Herbert Brodie and boxers Jack Phillips and Musky Jackson for match fixing. The investigation exonerated boxer Jack Torrance, who was managed by Brodie.


 * 1938: Heavyweight boxer Al "Big Boy" Bray told the California State Athletic Commission that he was offered a $1,000 bribe to take a dive against Chuck Crowell, which took place at Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. Bray said the bribe was offered by boxing promoter Suey Welch and Crowell's manager Baron Henry von Stumme.


 * August 1938: John Roxborough, the manager for heavyweight boxer Joe Louis, wrote to the United States Ambassador to Germany Hugh R. Wilson asking him to protest to German authorities the circulation of a film purporting to show the Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling fight on June 22, 1938. The film was cut together with footage of their first bout on June 19, 1936 to make it look like Schmeling was the victor of the second fight, when in fact he was knocked out by Louis in the first round.


 * January 29, 1939: Heavyweight boxer Harry Thomas confessed that he participated in two fixed matches. The first was on December 13, 1937 against Max Schmeling in which Thomas lost by technical knockout (TKO) in the eight round. The second fight took place on November 14, 1938 against Tony Galento in which Thomas was defeated by TKO in the third round. Thomas was paid $8,500 for fixing the Schmeling fight and $23,000 for fixing the Galento fight.


 * 1939:

1940s

 * June 19, 1946: Heavyweight boxer Joe Lewis knocks out Billy Conn in the eighth round at Yankee Stadium in New York City. The following day United States Representative Donald Lawrence O'Toole from New York's 13th congressional district wrote the New York Athletic Commission demanding they investigate the fight, which he alleged was fixed. The commission took no action.


 * 1947: Jake LaMotta agreed to take a dive against Billy Fox during their match at Madison Square Garden in New York City, however, the fight was poorly coordinated and the fix became apparent. The New York State Athletic Commission suspended LaMotta and the purses for the match were withheld to both fighters.


 * 1947:


 * 1947: Grand jury proceedings in New York revealed a plot to fix a match between Rocky Graziano and Ruben Shank that was scheduled for December 27, 1946. Graziano called the match off on Christmas Eve saying he had developed a "mild sacroiliac condition".


 * 1949: The Michigan Boxing Commission investigated a fight between welterweights Kid Gavilán and Lester Felton, which resulted in a split 2–1 decision for Felton. Gavilán told commission he believed the referee helped Felton fix the match.


 * 1949 Welterweights boxer Ike Williams alleged that he was offered $100,000 take a dive in a fight against Kid Gavilán. Williams refused, but lost the match anyway, prompting him to tell the Los Angeles Times in 1991 that he regretted not taking the money. Williams believed he won the fight, but the decision was fixed. According to Willimas, Sugar Ray Robinson told him that the decision should have gone against Gavilán.

1950s

 * 1950: Jose Reseal Aviles was arrested on April 8, 1950 on fraud charges for impersonating professional middleweight boxer Tuzo Portuguez during a fight against Alvin Williams in Wichita, Kansas. Aviles told police that he confessed to the fight's promoter, Max Yeargain, that he was not Portuguez, but was asked to continue the ruse. Aviles took a dive two minutes and 33 seconds in the first round and was paid $225.


 * 1954: It was reported by Sports Illustrated that welterweight boxer Vince Martinez was offered $20,000 to lose to Carmine Fiore in a televised match on October 29 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. Martinez ended up winning the bout and was escorted to New Jersey for his safety by members of District Attorney Frank Hogan's staff in a prearranged deal for information on the people who tried to fix the match.


 * 1954: Heavyweight boxer Clarence Henry was arrested and charged with bribery for allegedly offering middleweight boxer Bobby Jones $15,000 to throw his fight against Joey Giardello on June 11 at Madison Square Garden.


 * October 1954: Welterweight boxer Kid Gavilán's defeat to Johnny Saxton by judges decision at Convention Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was widely considered a fixed bout. Twenty of the 22 reporters who watched the match judged Gavilin to be the winner.


 * 1955: California Governor Goodwin J. Knight created an investigative committee to look into allegations of match fixing in boxing. The following year, the committee convened a hearing where it was revealed they had evidence that boxing promoter Babe McCoy had fixed seven fights dating back to 1950.


 * 1955:


 * 1956: ]


 * December 1957 boxer Dick Goldstein told the National Boxing Association that Art Aragon had approached him before their upcoming match and offered him $500 to take a dive. Goldstein refused and Aragon called off the fight, telling the Texas Athletic Commission he was ill. Aragon was convicted of criminal conspiracy for his part in the scheme and was sentenced to one to five years in a California State Prison.

1960s

 * 1964 and 1965: Both Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston in 1964 and 1965 were suspected of being fixed, but the allegations were never proven.

1970s

 * 1970s: Cathy Davis, who was a women's professional boxer from 1976 to 1981, admitted to writer Jaime Lowe that some of her matches were fixed.


 * June 26, 1976: the Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki match at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan resulted in a 15-round draw. Both sides agreed to the match under the assumption it would be a fixed exhibition. The two fighters could not agree on who would win the fight, so the match became genuine.

1980s

 * 1981–82: In Szekszard, Hungary, 141 people were indicted for bribery related to fixing soccer matches. According to prosecutors, the group was responsible for 66 fixed matches in 1981 and 58 matches in 1982.
 * 1986: The Aftenposten in Oslo, Norway reported that Norwegian heavyweight boxer Steffen Tangstad had fought Uruguayan boxer Alfredo Evangelista in a fixed match. Evangelista told Aftenposten that he agreed to lose the fight as long as he was not knocked down and was paid $6,000 for his cooperation.

1990s

 * 1993: Sports Illustrated reported that several fights arranged by boxing promoter Rick "Elvis" Parker were fixed according to boxer Sonny Barch, who claimed he was approached by Parker and told to lose the fight against Randall "Tex" Cobb scheduled on September 15, 1993. Cobb knocked out Barch in the first-round. Barch also claimed to have knowledge of another fix which occurred on the same card as his fight between football player turned boxer Mark Gastineau and Rick Hoard. In that match, Gastineau won by a technical knockout in the first round. Cobb denied the claims and sued Sports Illustrated for libel. He was awarded $10.7 million by a federal jury in 1999. The verdict was reversed on appeal on January 31, 2002.


 * 1999: A report by the Miami Herald documented at least 30 incidents of match fixing in boxing. Heavyweight boxer Tony Fulilangi claimed his fight with George Foreman on October 27, 1988 in Marshall, Texas was fixed. According to Fulilangi, the fight's promoter never explicitly discussed a fix. Instead, the promoter chose Fulilangi due to his history of injuries and lack of conditioning before the fight. Light heavyweight boxer Iran Barkley told the Herald that he was offered $30,000 to throw a match, but declined to disclose who it was that approached him. Heavyweight boxer Andre Smiley, who had a career record of 0–26–1, claimed to have faked 14 knockouts from 1990 to 1997.

2000s

 * January 6, 2004: Top Rank offices in Las Vegas, Nevada were raided by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents following a 20 month sting called "Operation Matchbook". The FBI employed retired New York City Police Department detective Frankie Manzione to go undercover at the Top Rank offices to investigate match fixing allegations. Mitchell Rose told the FBI that unidentified Top Rank employees attempted to bribe him to take a dive against Top Rank boxer Eric Esch.


 * November 2004: Boxing promoter Robert Mitchell and boxer Thomas Williams were each convicted of one count of sports bribery and attempt to commit sports bribery. During the trial, prosecutors made the case that Mitchell and Williams conspired to promote the career of boxer Richie Melito Jr. by fixing his matches. Seven boxers testified during the trial that they were paid to take a dive against Melito Jr. Boxing promoter Robert Mittleman, who had plead guilty to sports bribery in April 2004, testified on the government's behalf. According to Mittleman, Williams agreed to take a dive against Melito Jr. during the match on August 12, 2000. Mitteleman also testififed that he arranged Williams to lose a fight in Denmark to boxer Brian Nielsen. It was the first successful prosecution of a sports bribery case in Nevada.


 * 2006: Japan Today circulated rumors that the Juan Landaeta vs. Koki Kameda fight was fixed, but pointed out there was no evidence to support the allegations.


 * 2006: The Boxing Union of Ireland (BUI) withheld the purse for the Michael Gomez–Peter McDonagh fight due to allegations of match fixing that led to bookmaker BoyleSports to suspend wagers before the fight. Following an investigation, the boxers were exonerated from any wrongdoing, but the BUI admonished BoyleSports for not cooperating with investigators.


 * May 2, 2006: Boxers Buck Smith, Verdell Smith and Sean Gibbons were called in front of a federal grand jury and asked about match fixing allegations. All three boxers invoked their Fifth Amendment privilege, but maintained their innocence during interviews with press.

2010s

 * 2010: A match between cruiserweights Paul Briggs and Danny Green was declared fixed following an investigation by WA Professional Combat Sports Commission. Green was exonerated by the investigation, but Briggs, who was knocked out 29 seconds into the first round, was found the have purposefully taken a dive. The findings of the investigation were overturned in 2012 by three judges of the High Court of Australia.


 * 2012: At the 2012 Summer Olympics, a match result was overturned and the referee was expelled from the tournament after a very controversial decision which included a boxer winning the match despite having been knocked down five times in one round, in violation of amateur boxing regulations. Under AIBA rules, both the mandatory eight count and three knockdown rule are in effect.  Eleven months earlier, BBC reported on a possible bribery attempt, which could be related.


 * 2013: South African boxer Francois Botha alleged he was offered a A$150,000 bribe to throw his match against Sonny Bill Williams on February 8, 2013 at Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane, Australia.


 * 2013: North Dakota Commission of Combative Sports suspended boxer Nicholas Capes for taking a dive in his match against former National Football League player turned heavyweight boxer Ray Edwards on February 9, 2013 at the Red River Valley Fairgrounds in West Fargo, North Dakota. Capes was a last minute replacement after two fighters were no-shows. Cory Rapacz, the event's promoter, told WDAY-TV that he believed Capes took a dive to avoid injury at the hands of the much larger Edwards. North Dakota Secretary of State Alvin Jaeger told the Associated Press that it was clear to him that the hit that sent Capes to the canvas 13 seconds into the bout did not make contact.


 * 2014: Super welterweight boxer Elliot Seymour told TMZ Sports that his exhibition fight with actor Mickey Rourke on November 28, 2014 in Moscow, Russia was fixed. Seymour said he was paid $15,000 to go down in the second round.


 * 2016: During the 2016 Summer Olympics, Sports Illustrated reported that several boxing judges and referees were dismissed by the International Boxing Association due to suspect decisions.