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Holyfield: loses his ear

One never quite knows what will happen when two prize fighters battle it out and how the story will really end. That's a large part of the fascination we have with boxing.

Adam Smith
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Thank you to everyone who got so immersed in the fun selection of the best pound-for-pound fighters on earth.

There is nothing like good boxing banter to spur the emotions, and while we made our arguments on who those top 10 might be, the last few weeks have been dominated by more of of our sport's controversial outcomes, which have sparked further debate.

Firstly the battle between the unbeaten American heavyweight contenders Chris Arreola and Chazz Witherspoon ended in complete confusion. Witherspoon was knocked down for the second time in the third round just before the bell rang. He got back to his feet, in bad shape, was given a standing eight count and his trainers helped him back to his corner.

No-one was quite sure what was going on, and eventually it was announced that Witherspoon had been disqualified because his corner men had climbed into the ring before the referee Randy Phillips had declared the round was over.

It actually looked like Phillips hadn't heard the bell so presumably thought the bout should continue - before being made aware (ironically by Arreola himself) that the corner men were in the ring. It was a total mess, and for Johnny Nelson and myself in commentary - a tough ending to call!

A week later, there was more madness. Humberto Soto was easily beating Francisco Lorenzo (pictured), flooring him in the fourth, and as Soto went for the finish, referee Joe Cortez (who had been criticised for his handling of Floyd Mayweather-Ricky Hatton) stepped in between the two fighters as if to wave off the bout.

Instead Cortez appeared to change his mind and the fight continued. After a break, an exhausted, bloody Lorenzo fell to his knees. Soto barely landed with a left hand before Cortez stepped in, and once again, it looked like the referee had stopped it.

Lorenzo collapsed dramatically to his back for several minutes, while Cortez spoke to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. At long last, it was announced that due to Lorenzo being hit in the back of the head - an illegal blow - and not being able to continue, he was declared the winner by disqualification.

Lorenzo suddenly rose and celebrated in farcical fashion, while Cortez claimed the fight was stopped because Soto hit Lorenzo when he was on the floor. What a debacle!

Prematurely

Then last weekend, there was the Ricardo Torres-Kendall Holt WBO light-welterweight drama. Ten months after their first controversial fight in Colombia - when Holt claimed he was hit by beer bottles and stopped prematurely - this time it was all over in 61 seconds. But what a minute it was!

Torres dropped Holt twice, but when going for the finish was hit, and ended up knocked out and being awkwardly held up by the ropes. Yet this second fight wouldn't be without its own controversy.

Replays showed that prior to the crushing right hand, an accidental head butt clearly dazed and hurt Torres before he was caught by the finishing right. So, who would discount Torres-Holt III?

Boxing has long been such a fascinating sport due to the unpredictable nature of fights and their outcomes. It's simple: you're never really quite sure what will happen next.

We've had the truly bizarre like the Fanman entering proceedings in the middle of Bowe-Holyfield II. No-one saw that coming, and many believe it had a profound effect on the fight, as Holyfield's fitness gave him the edge in the break and he roared down the stretch to regain his titles.

Outrageous

Holyfield was of course on the receiving end of one of the most outrageous acts we've seen, when Mike Tyson decided to bite chunks out of his ear - the bully presumably looking for a way out.

Controversies go even further back through the years.

Jack Dempsey-Gene Tunney gave us the 'Battle of the Long Count' when Tunney appeared to be knocked out, but Dempsey hadn't returned to the neutral corner quickly enough, and ended up losing.

Did Sonny Liston - whose mobster background was known to boxing authorities - go down to Muhammad Ali's phantom punch? Why did Roberto Duran say 'No Mas' against Sugar Ray Leonard?

There was Jake LaMotta's botched dive against Billy Fox, which sent the 'Raging Bull' into courtroom battles, and the Aaron Pryor knockout of Alexis Arguello after he had been given a 'mixed bottle' by infamous trainer Panama Lewis.

Lewis was also involved in the horrific Luis Resto-Billy Collins Jr fight which Resto won in a 10-round decision over a bloody Collins. An investigation revealed that Lewis had cut holes in the palms of Resto's gloves and had removed two ounces of padding from each glove. Collins suffered permanently blurred vision, and died tragically a short while later.

There was that full-scale riot after Riddick Bowe fought Andrew Golota (pictured) and the appalling Friday 13th night in Scotland when the dinner crowd went mad as poor James Murray was carried stricken out of the ring.

There is no excuse for so-called supporters to behave like that, but it is so hard for the recognised officials, when they are attacked and questioned for doing such a tough job.

Spotlight

We all remember Meldrick Taylor's dramatic loss with just two seconds remaining of his mega fight with Julio Cesar Chavez, Richard Steele the man in the spotlight there. And whatever happened to Octavio Meyran, the referee who allegedly was accused by Don King of giving Buster Douglas a slow count before Tyson's first loss? His days as a high-profile referee were over.

Tony Weeks was even blamed for allowing Diego Corrales extra time to recover from those 10th round knockdowns when he spat his gumshield out in the thriller with Jose Luis Castillo.

Some judging has long been questioned. Decisions like Marvin Hagler-Sugar Ray Leonard, Pernell Whitaker-Chavez, and the first Holyfield-Lennox Lewis fight have continued to baffle us.

Whilst in the Olympics, Roy Jones, Evander Holyfield and Floyd Mayweather were all seemingly robbed of more prestigious medals. Over here in recent years, Damaen Kelly' s ridiculous loss to Simone Maludrottu in Belfast springs to mind.

On the current British scene the ending of Wayne Elcock-Darren McDermott's middleweight match had its own little bit of controversy when McDermott was stopped due to a bad accidental cut in the second round. The debate that ensued was about whether Jimmy Tibbs in his corner should have been allowed to have a go at stemming the flow.

Unpredictable

Tales of the unexpected normally follow Danny Williams. Last time he seemed the victim in Spain under local referee Alfredo Garcia Perez before he finally knocked out Konstantin Airich. Williams had three points taken off and when he had Airich in trouble, the bell incredibly rung after just 1:20 of round six. Williams finished the job in the seventh.

Williams has won the British title with the use of just one arm, beaten Mike Tyson but has frozen in fights and even run away. Something unpredictable is bound to happen when he meets John McDermott in our season finale next week.

And what will unfold when when Lee Meager and John Murray clash for the British Lightweight title this week - both are exciting come forward fighters who have apparently had wars in sparring before. I am really looking forward to this one.

We have had such a good run. Last week David Barnes retained his British light-welterweight title against a brave Barry Morrison, and the previous Friday we had the gruelling and intense belter when Matthew Marsh dethroned Esham Pickering.

As discussed in this week's blog, one never quite knows what will happen when two prize fighters battle it out and how the story will really end. That's a large part of the fascination we have with boxing.

What is the biggest controversy YOU have seen in the ring? Send them in using the feedback form below and we will print the best of them...