The Craziest Moments in Boxing

Boxing is a decorated sport that has been around for hundreds of years. Since establishing itself as a major regulated sport amongst other big leagues like baseball and football, boxing has had a lot of historical moments that have shocked and awed us. Combat sports have a reputation for craziness, with athlete’s egos and aggression running wild at times. As we reflect on decades of boxing history, we have put together a list of some of the most memorably crazy and bizarre moments in the history of the sport.

The Phantom Punch

Boxing may be the greatest sport on earth, but no one can deny that its reputation has been somewhat tarnished over the years by shady activity. The Liston vs Ali fight will go down as one of the most infamous moments in boxing history because of how blatantly fixed it was to some. It had long been suspected that Liston had mob ties, and this fight certainly fueled the fire of speculation. Liston and Ali were due for a rematch after an unsatisfactory six round bout that Liston forfeited with a suspicious hurt shoulder. What followed was a round of boxing that has been analyzed for decades. The entire first round consisted of Ali dancing around while Liston chased him, throwing wildly. Toward the end of the round, Ali seemed to drop Liston with one quick punch that looked as though it hardly connected, a moment that will live on forever as the “Phantom Punch.” Many consider this fight a fix, and Liston a poor actor. The stories of mob ties continued for years until Liston died of a mysterious drug overdose only five years after this fight.

Luis Resto’s Illegal Gloves

At that point in 1983, it was clear that Resto was a light punching journeyman that had seen the apex of his career. Going up against the undefeated up and comer Billy Collins, Resto and his trainers knew there weren’t many ways for him to win. To the crowd’s surprise, Resto had beaten Collins, badly and gruesomely. After the fight, Collins’ father and trainer Collins Sr. went to shake Resto’s hand out of sportsmanship, only to discover that his gloves were very thin. Upon further inspection, it had been discovered that Resto had taken the padding out of his gloves, and dipped his hand wraps in Plaster of Paris, a quick drying cement to harden up his wraps. The fallout of this incident was horrifying. Not only were Resto and his trainer banned from boxing, but Resto also served a 2 year prison sentence for assault. Unfortunately for Collins, the beating left him unable to fight again, which sent him into a spiral that led to his untimely death at age 22. This sad and tragic tale of cheating shook boxing up and changed the sport forever.

Mayweather, JR. Tries Wrestling

While there have been countless moments in the boxing ring that were strange, one of the most bizarre clashes over the years was not in the boxing ring, but the wrestling ring. The undefeated champion Floyd Mayweather, JR. was apparently testing out some new avenues of income when he decided to make an appearance at Wrestlemania in 2008 vs the legendary wrestler Big Show. Boxers are not known for leaving their sport often, so this unorthodox spectacle was completely out of character for the champion at the time. What followed was a strange spectacle that had Mayweather taking out the Big Show with brass knuckles. Wrestling fans loved it, boxing fans were confused and we haven’t seen Mayweather at a wrestling event since, though we hope to see him back in the boxing ring again soon.

Tyson Biting Holyfield

While there have been some truly horrific incidents in boxing, from cheating scandals to unfortunate accidental deaths, somehow this incident has topped them all as far as pop culture infamy is concerned. This moment exceeds the boxing world and is even known to those that have never watched boxing. Of course, the craziest moment in boxing history is when Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield’s ear. The fight was getting heated, and Holyfield had resorted to headbutting Tyson, which the referee apparently chose to ignore. What happened next is something only the devastating and fearsome Tyson could have dreamed up. When they were close in a clinch, Tyson bit the top part of Holyfield’s ear off, spitting it onto the ground. Immediately there was shoving as the referee called a timeout, but amazingly the fight continued until Tyson attempted to bite the other ear! The fight was stopped with Tyson losing by disqualification. He was then fined $3 million and temporarily banned from the sport at the height of his fame.