Top 10 Biggest Fixed Fights in Boxing History: Shocking Scandals Exposed

By Muhammad Arslan Saleem November 05, 2025 02:36

The sweet science has always danced on a razor's edge between glory and graft, where leather gloves hide clenched fists of corruption. Boxing's allure lies in its raw unpredictability a symphony of sweat, strategy and savagery but history's underbelly reveals a darker score: bouts rigged not by skill but by shadowy payoffs, mob muscle and desperate dives. From the mob's golden era in the 1950s to whispers of modern mismatches, fixed fights have scarred the sport, eroding trust and toppling titans. As the Nevada Athletic Commission tightens its grip amid 2025's surge in betting scandals up 23% in investigated anomalies per commission data these 10 outrages stand as cautionary haymakers. Drawing from declassified probes, eyewitness accounts and court transcripts, we peel back the canvas on the biggest betrayals.

10. Jake LaMotta vs. Billy Fox (1947): The Bronx Bull's Guilty Conscience

In a welterweight mismatch at Detroit's Olympia, LaMotta later immortalized in Raging Bull surrendered to unheralded Fox in the fourth round, absorbing a barrage without firing back. LaMotta later confessed to a 1960 grand jury it was a mob-orchestrated "favor" to secure a middleweight title shot. "I took a dive," he admitted bluntly, his record blemished at 83-18-4. The scandal cost him $1,000 in bribes but haunted him; Fox, 32-7-1, cashed in briefly before fading. It exposed LaMotta's vulnerability, not in the ring, but to the underworld's pull.

9. Luis Resto vs. Billy Collins Jr. (1983): Gloves of Deceit

Not a outright fix, but this light welterweight bout at Madison Square Garden reeks of tampering that turned victory into villainy. Resto, 23-1, pummeled Collins into a grotesque, one-eyed surrender after 12 rounds, winning a unanimous decision. Post-fight inspections revealed Resto's gloves padded with plaster and corneas coated to obscure vision allegedly the work of trainer Panama Lewis. Collins, 14-0, never fought again, spiraling into despair before his 1984 suicide at 23. Lewis was banned for life; Resto's win vacated. "It was like fighting a brick wall with eyes closed," Collins' father lamented to Sports Illustrated. A 2023 ESPN 30 for 30 revisited the horror, underscoring boxing's brutal blind spots.

8. Sonny Liston vs. Muhammad Ali II (1965): The Phantom Punch Phantom

Lewis Park in Lewiston, Maine, hosted one of boxing's most controversial KOs: Ali, 22-0, crumpling after a glancing Liston right in the first round, handing the ex-champ a TKO victory. Ali rose at the ref's 4-count, but the fix whispers fueled by Liston's mob ties and Ali's quick recovery have echoed for decades. Liston, 35-1 entering, pocketed $615,000; Ali claimed a shoulder tweak. "Something smelled rotten in Maine," promoter Jack Hurley told The Ring in 1966. No charges stuck, but the bout's $2 million gate (a record then) amplified suspicions. Ali's 31-0 post-fight redemption? Priceless irony.

7. Jack Sharkey vs. Jack Dempsey (1927): The Long Count Conspiracy

Chicago's Soldier Field overflowed with 104,000 for this heavyweight clash, but Dempsey's infamous "long count" gifted Sharkey the nod. After flooring Sharkey with a flurry in the seventh, Dempsey delayed retreating to his corner, costing ref Dave Barry a full five-second delay. Sharkey rose at 9, then outpointed Dempsey (61-6-8) for the vacant title. "I fouled him maybe it was fixed from the start," Dempsey reflected in his 1975 autobiography. Sharkey, 37-12-4 lifetime, lost the belt swiftly, but the scandal birthed modern rules. Gate: $1.2 million, a fortune tainted.

6. Carmine Vingo vs. Jersey Joe Walcott (1947): A Dive for the Ages

In a Madison Square Garden prelim, Vingo lay supine for 10 counts against Walcott, only to leap up post-bell, laughing with his foe. The fix? Vingo, 12-2, took $5,000 to flop for Walcott's title path. "We shook hands over it business," Vingo confessed in a 1952 New York Times exposé. Walcott, 44-13-4, parlayed it to a 1951 upset over Ezzard Charles. The bout drew 18,000 fans, oblivious to the charade, highlighting 1940s graft where fighters earned pennies (Vingo's purse: $800 legit).

5. Jack Johnson vs. Jess Willard (1915): The Desert Surrender

Havana's Oriental Park saw the Galveston Giant, 27-2-4 and exiled champ, quit on his stool after 26 rounds against Willard, yielding the crown amid racial and federal heat. Johnson later alleged a $100,000 bribe from promoters to dive, easing his U.S. return. "The sun beat me, or so they say," Johnson quipped in a 1920s interview, but Willard, 7-0, admitted in private letters (unsealed 1980s) to "arrangements." Gate: $125,000; Johnson's exile ended, but his legacy fractured. A 1915 Variety review called it "the tamest title tilt ever."

4. Max Schmeling vs. Harry Thomas (1936): The Bronx Bomber Bust

Yankee Stadium's 35,000 watched Schmeling, 45-6-3, stop Thomas in the ninth for a TKO, but New York grand jury docs later revealed Thomas pocketed $8,500 to carry Schmeling to a decision. "I was broke took the dough," Thomas admitted in 1947 testimony. The fix, tied to promoter Mike Jacobs' mob links, boosted Schmeling's profile pre-Louis rematch. Thomas, 45-12-2, faded; Schmeling's purse swelled to $45,000. It exemplified 1930s heavyweight hustles, per FBI files declassified in 2005.

3. Tony Galento vs. Joe Louis (1940): The Bantamweight Betrayal

Before 22,063 at the Bronx's Yankee Stadium, "Two Ton" Tony Galento 5'10", 233 lbs stunned by flooring Louis in the third, only to wilt in a sixth-round KO loss. But 1947 probes exposed Galento's $23,000 mob payout to dive after the flash knockdown. "I hit him good, then played possum," Galento bragged to The Saturday Evening Post. Louis, 42-1, defended his title 25 times; the gate hit $175,000. Galento's 46-10-6 ledger? Forever footnoted as farce.

2. Rocky Graziano vs. Billy Fox (1947): The Gangster's Gambit

Graziano, 47-7-6, demolished Fox in two rounds at MSG, but it was a sham: Fox, paid $9,000 by Philly mobster Blinky Palermo, took a dive to propel Graziano toward a title. "I knew it was crooked felt like punching air," Graziano wrote in Somebody Up There Likes Me. The fix unraveled LaMotta's career too; Graziano's middleweight strap came via 1948 KO of Tommy Zale. Purse: $10,000 for Rocky; scandal's shadow? Eternal.

1. Sonny Liston vs. Muhammad Ali (1964): The Crown of Corruption

Miami Beach Convention Hall's electric atmosphere live on radio, 8,000 strong watched Liston, 35-1 and mob-backed bear, crumple from an Ali "phantom punch" in the seventh, gifting the Greatest his first title at 22-0. Investigations, including 1964 FBI memos, alleged Liston's $1.1 million purse included dive incentives from Francine Gorman and Philly syndicate. "He looked at me funny then fell," Ali mused post-fight. Liston's record ended 50-4; the $4.4 million gate (PPA's biggest) masked the mob's millions in bets. Six decades on, it's the ur-scandal, per The New Yorker's 2024 retrospective.

These dives didn't just decide belts; they dented boxing's soul, spawning reforms like the 1960s Kefauver Committee probes that curbed organized crime's grip. Yet as 2025's digital betting boom $10 billion wagered stateside, per AGA stats fuels fresh fears, the echoes persist. "Fixes are the cancer we can't KO," Hall of Famer Teddy Atlas told ESPN this fall. In a sport of honest blood, these scandals remind: Sometimes, the real fight is for integrity.