4 of the biggest boxing robberies of all time

On July 6, Robson Conceição won the WBC junior lightweight world championship via split decision from O'Shaquie Foster in the co-main event of the ESPN telecast of Shakur Stevenson vs. Arten Harutyunyan. The main event will be remembered as a snooze fest. The co-main event will be remembered as the robbery of the year, maybe the decade. Most of the ringside observers and fans watching at home had Foster winning 8 to 10 rounds. And the rounds were not hard to score. Foster was visibly shaken by the decision having believed he had done his job. Final scores were 116-112, 115-113 for Conceição, and 116-112 for Foster. I actually thought two of the judges had the fighters mixed up and were inadvertently scoring rounds for the wrong fighter.

For life long fans of boxing like me, these types of fights can be triggering. It's why we can't seem to have nice things. Being a boxing fan is a conscious choice to be in an abusive relationship. And while I'll never walk away, more and more I have friends and family who have to. I can't blame them. They can't take it anymore. Here are five of the worst robberies in recent memory.:

George Foreman vs. Shannon Briggs

On Nov. 22, 1997, in Atlantic City, lineal heavyweight champion George Foreman lost a majority decision against Shannon Briggs in what was widely regarded as the robbery of the year. Foreman outlanded Briggs by nearly 60 punches and Briggs rarely took a forward step throughout the fight. Foreman did appear slow, but Briggs bit on every single feint and Foreman capitalized with effective counterpunching. Foreman landed 58% of his total punches against Briggs' 45% connect percentage. Foreman's jab was superb and he had Briggs bleeding from the nose and mouth early in the fight.

It is said that judges don't score the present, they score the future. There is perhaps no greater example of this trope than this fight. Foreman was 48 years old at the time and certainly had more fights behind him than in front of him. It's not hard to score 8 or 9 rounds for Foreman in this fight. He would never fight again, perhaps taking the hint from the officiating establishment that his time was finished. Final scores were 116-112, 115-113 and 114-114.

Rolando Romero vs. Ismael Barroso

On May 13, 2023, from the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Rolando Romero scored a technical knockout in round nine against Ismael Barroso to win the vacant WBA super lightweight title. Referee Tony Weeks would stop the fight in round nine after Romero was hit twice and Barroso was hit with a glancing blow that would have no impact.

Barroso was winning on all three judges score cards at the time of the stoppage and had dropped Romero in round 3. The stoppage was just completely awful. Weeks has been the referee in some of the biggest blood baths in recent memory but decided to not let this fight continue. Barroso was robbed of the chance to win the fight. Weeks has a history of questionable stoppages. He famously stopped the rematch between Andre Ward and Sergei Kovalev after Ward hit Kovalev low 4 consecutive times. He gave the KO victory to Ward. It's time he is removed from high level officiating.

Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Pernell Whitaker

On Sept. 10, 1993, Julio Cesar Chavez and Pernell Whitaker fought to a majority draw at the Alamo Dome in San Antonio with the WBC welterweight title on the line. Whitaker would outland Chavez by 91 punches and couldn't miss with the jab. There wasn't a single observer in the press row that had Chavez winning. Final scores were 115-115 twice, 115-113 for Whitaker.

Diehards will know,15-115 is an obscure scorecard mathematically on the 10 point must system. This would mean rounds scored as 10-10 as a way to protect Chavez. The cover of Sports Illustrated would famously read "Robbed!" with Whitaker jabbing Chavez.

Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis

On March 13, 1999, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis fought to a split draw at New York's Madison Square Garden for the undisputed heavyweight championship. Holyfield was defending his IBF and WBA titles and Lewis was defending his WBC and lineal title.

Lewis controlled the fight with his legendary jab and would neutralize Holyfield's efforts up close. Holyfield famously predicted a third-round knockout victory and fell short. This seemed to suck the wind out of his sails and he faded down the stretch. In a fight most viewers thought would crown Lewis as undisputed ended in a draw. Lewis would get his sweet revenge in November of 1999 when a clear-cut decision to become undisputed heavyweight champion.