Some Controversial Decisions Boxing Couldn’t Leave Alone

Two years later, Pastrano found himself in a fight where the ending left no argument. In September 1965, Jose Torres dropped him and took control before referee Johnny LoBianco stopped the fight after the ninth round. Cus D’Amato directed the approach from outside the corner, calling out combinations Torres had drilled in training, and Pastrano lost the title without a second chance to correct it.

Tyrone Everett ran into a different version of the same problem. He entered his November 1976 fight against Alfredo Escalera unbeaten at 34-0 and appeared to outbox the champion over 15 rounds at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. I had it 13-2 in rounds for Everett. One judge agreed with a 148-146 score, but the other two turned in cards for Escalera, including a 145-143 score from Pennsylvania judge Lou Tress, who never worked another fight.

In more recent years, some of these disputes have been answered in the ring. Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s April 2002 decision over Jose Luis Castillo drew heavy criticism, but the rematch eight months later gave him a clearer win and removed most of the argument from the first fight. A similar situation followed in 2014 against Marcos Maidana, where a close majority decision led to a second fight that produced a more decisive result.

Not every controversial decision gets revisited, and that difference still shows up across eras. Johnson and Everett were left with outcomes they could not change, while others were able to go back and settle the score in a second fight. That line between unfinished business and closure is part of what keeps these fights in the conversation years later.