Today we look over some of the craziest moments in boxing. The sport of boxing can be considered crazy even when its normal. There has been some really strange happenings in history here’s a few interesting ones.
Boxer walks out the ring right at the opening bell!
In 2018 heavyweight prospect 6-0 (5KO’s) Efe Ajagba was due to fight Curtis Harper but nobody expected him to do this! Think of all those hours of training out the window, what a shame. Word on the street is that Harper had a dispute with the promoter regarding money and knew if he pulled out he wouldn’t get paid so thought walking out after the bell rang he’d still get paid. However after that stunt will anyone ever promote him again?
Oliver McCall suffers mental breakdown during rematch with Lennox Lewis
In there first outing together McCall shockingly stopped hall of famer Lewis. Just shy of three years later of Lewis rebuilding himself they met again. However this time around McCall ran out of ideas and couldn’t get the better of Lewis. He was loosing badly and eventually started leaving his hands down and letting Lewis unload on him, he was walking around in circles and was close to tears in the round before he was stopped. This was bizarre.
Mike Tyson bites Holyfield’s ear clean off!
Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II, – the Bite Fight” June 28, 1997 It is known as one of the most bizarre moments in boxing history, after Mike Tyson bites Holyfield ear. Tyson was disqualified from the match and lost his boxing license, though it was later reinstated. Tyson’s boxing license was revoked by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and he was fined $3 million plus legal fees. Tyson claims he was frustrated from Holyfield’s headbutting and retaliated.
The fan man
The highly anticipated match up between Bowe and Holyfield was stopped for 21 minutes in the 7th round after James Miller now referred as “fan man” crashed into the ring with his powered paraglider. Fans and the fighters’ security detail swarmed around him immediately and began attacking him from this h was knocked unconscious during the attack. One security officer reportedly struck Miller twenty times. He was rushed to a nearby hospital as spectators cut his paraglider into pieces for souvenirs
Mayweather sucker punch
September 17, 2011 Mayweather and Ortiz met with the WBC welterweight title at stake. In the first three rounds Floyd found success with all judges scoring him ahead. However in the forth round Ortiz found a break and put Floyd on the backfoot in the corner and unleashed a good combination. Floyd handled this well which frustrated Ortiz and he landed an intentional headbutt which caused a cut inside Floyds mouth.
Referee Joe Cortez called a break in action and deducted a point from Ortiz. The fighters touched gloves and Mayweather seemed to half-heartedly return a hug from Ortiz. Then, with Cortez looking away from Mayweather he caught Ortiz with a left hook and a straight right to the face. Ortiz dropped straight onto the canvas and was unable to beat the count. Un-sportsman like? Karma?
Boxer knocks out opponent after the fight
Clearly one of the craziest moments in boxing. 29 November 2001 James Butler had a unanimous decision loss to Richard Grant. What happened in the fight was pretty standard nothing out the ordinary at all. Following the fight is when things got very dark very fast. Grant was knocked clean out (after gloves were removed) from a sucker punch. Butler was jailed for 4 months following this event.
In 2004 he was arrested for the murder of Sam Kellerman (brother of Max) Prosecutors speculated Butler was having relationship issues with his girlfriend while also struggling to revive his boxing career when Kellerman asked Butler to move out. A disagreement ensued on how long Butler could stay when he picked up a hammer and killed Kellerman then torched his house