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Other boxing matches that were likely fixed:

1947: “Blackjack” Billy Fox beats Jake Lamotta

LaMotta took a dive. It’s recounted in Raging Bull and is indicative of many of the fights of the era. Fans yelled “Fake, fake!” at Fox’s TKO.

1951: Kid Gavilan beats Billy Graham despite dominating the fight

In August of 1951 at Madison Square Garden, Graham did everything but knock out Gavilan, but didn’t get the decision. Graham became known as the “Uncrowned Middleweight Champ.”

1954: Johnny Saxton beats Kid Gavilan

This was one of the worst decisions in boxing history—and that’s saying a lot. Saxton was a Philadelphia fighter controlled by organized crime figures. Twenty of twenty-two ringside reporters thought Gavilan had won. The officials were unanimous that Saxton had won.

1990: Julio Cesar Chavez beats Meldrick Taylor

One of the greatest fights in the last quarter century was marred when ref Richard Steele stopped the fight at 2:58 of the twelfth and final round, preventing Meldrick Taylor from winning a decision over then-undefeated Chavez.

1992: Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield fight to controversial draw

Lewis wound up with a draw, in a fight he clearly won. One of the judges, Eugenia Williams, scored a clearly Lewis-dominated fifth round for Holyfield.

1993: Pernell Whitaker whips Julio Cesar Chavez in dubious draw

Sweet Pea Whitaker frustrated Julio Cesar Chavez from beginning to end, but the judges didn’t see it like that. Yes, the fight took place in San Antonio, where Chavez had a number of Mexican-Americans on his side, and a clear home-field advantage. But not even that could explain the bizarre scorecards of the officials.

1997: Oscar de la Hoya defeats Pernell Whitaker

In those days Bob Arum held a huge sway over the Las Vegas commission and the judges. This was even more egregious than the Whitaker vs. Chavez match.

What an amazing pair of stories. Liston, an illiterate hoodlum, rose to become the heavyweight champion of the world. Ali went from being one of the most hated public figures to one of the most beloved. Liston could have taken a dive. Ali could have been in on it. Either or both of their fights could have been fixed.

Certain questions will never be answered. Watching the twominute rematch, it is amazing that Ali was still the unpopular choice going into the fight. Who would have ever imagined that Ali would become the most beloved athlete in the world in the following four decades?

CONCLUSION:

#5

NBA’s first-ever draft lottery delivers Patrick Ewing to New York

I watched the very first NBA draft lottery on television in 1985, and I remember the excitement that resulted from NBA Commissioner David Stern pulling the envelope that gave New York the right to draft Georgtown’s Patrick Ewing, the national college player of the year. There have been whispers ever since that this inaugural draft was fixed. But was it?

THE MOTIVE

Make no mistake about it. The success of the NBA has always depended on a strong presence in the New York market. New York is where the League offices are located. New York is where the advertisers are, too, and it’s got the largest population of any NBA city, by far. In fact, according to the 1986 U.S. Census, only one other metropolitan area (Los Angeles) had half as many people as the New York metropolitan area did at the time.

The NBA rose in popularity when the New York Knicks prospered from the late 1960s to the mid 1970s. The 1969-1970 Knicks not only won the NBA Championship, but they became a team with national appeal. Blue-collar Detroit native Dave DeBusschere, brainy “Dollar” Bill Bradley, and stylish Walt Frazier, dubbed “Clyde” after a popular character in the movie Bonnie and Clyde—each represented key parts of a complete and true team, known for their passing and unselfishness.

The Knicks were, for lack of a better word, cool in those days, and captured the imagination of the city’s sports fans. After winning the NBA Championship in 1970, they lost in the Eastern Conference Finals the following year and