Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Jack Dempsey was a long-reigning heavyweight champion, who lost the title by a clear decision. In the rematch, he again lost, but first he knocked his opponent down in the seventh round. This opponent was down for roughly 15 seconds before the fight continued, making for the famous 'Long Count'. Who was the opponent?
2. Joe Louis had been the heavyweight champion for over a decade when he defended the title against a little regarded opponent. Everyone expected Louis to make short work of the challenger, but at the end of the 15 round fight there was little doubt that the upstart had clearly won the fight. Louis, however, was awarded a split-decision, and was booed and cat-called as he left the ring. Who was his opponent?
3. Following the retirement of Muhammad Ali, the heavyweight title was split between two men, Joe Frazier (who held the New York State Athletic Commission title) and Jimmy Ellis (who held the WBA title). In a defence of the WBA title, Ellis took on a former champion, and by the end of the fight Ellis was beaten bloody and had a broken jaw. Most spectators thought that the challenger (a former world champion) had regained the title easily, but Ellis was awarded the decision. Who was his opponent?
4. Larry Holmes lost the heavyweight title to Michael Spinks after seven years as the champion. The decision was a very surprising one, as most attendees thought that Holmes had done enough to retain the title. But as controversial as that decision was, the decision in Spinks's first defence of the title was even more outrageous, with Spinks retaining the title over a man that clearly beat him. Who was that opponent?
5. Muhammad Ali had several very questionable decisions that went his way, but most of them were in his second career (after regaining the heavyweight title the second time). However, early in his career (as Cassius Clay) he won a decision over ten rounds in a fight that many thought he had lost. Who was the man that arguably beat him?
6. After regaining the heavyweight title a second time, Ali would meet up with a man that had previously defeated him. In this title defence Ali won a decision that even he agreed he should have lost, and his opponent should have won. Who was the opponent?
7. In 1982, the WBA heavyweight champion Mike Weaver lost his title to Michael Dokes. How was this fight controversial?
8. Due to the controversy surrounding their fight in 1982, Dokes and Weaver almost immediately fought a rematch. How did that one end?
9. Muhammad Ali had another controversy with an opponent, winning by a TKO, with the referee stopping the fight, when the opponent claimed not to have been hurt at all. Who was this opponent?
10. In a long awaited rematch, Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns fought a second time in 1989 (with Leonard having won by a 14th round TKO eight years earlier). The fight ended in a draw, but most ringside observers thought it was clear that one of the men had won the fight easily. Most observers believed that Sugar Ray Leonard won the fight?
11. In 1993, Julio Cesar Chavez and Pernell Whitaker fought to a draw for the Welterweight title. 21 of 22 reporters at ringside reported that one man definitely should have won the decision, and by a wide margin. These reporters thought that Pernell Whitaker should have won?
12. George Foreman became the oldest man to win the heavyweight title at age 45, when he knocked out Michael Moorer. He lost the title two years later in a fight that almost everyone witnessing it believed Foreman should have won. Who was the opponent that was awarded the decision, and the heavyweight title, due to this bad decision?
13. The showdown between Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard in 1987 resulted in a split decision win for Leonard. One judge scored the fight 115-113 for Leonard, one judge scored the fight 115-113 for Hagler. What was the other judge's score (in favor of Leonard)?
14. In an attempt to unify the Heavyweight title, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis fought to a very questionable draw in 1999, with most observers believing that Lewis had easily won. One judge scored the fight even, one scored it in favor of Lewis, and one scored it in favor of Holyfield. What was the name of the judge that scored it in favor of Holyfield?
15. Kid Gavilan defended his Welterweight title in September 1953 against a future Welterweight and Middleweight champion, winning a split decision. Most believe this win was a gift for the champion, as the other man outworked him all night and should have won. Who was Gavilan's opponent?
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