Boxing has seen many controversial decisions, from Josh Taylor vs Jack Catterall to Evander Holyfield vs Lennox Lewis, but this one is, for many, unjustifiable.
Robberies in boxing are, unfortunately, not uncommon. Fans are often left dissatisfied with the judges’ scorecards, and questioning the results.
Even recently, on the Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol 2 card, there were two instances of this.
Fans were left confused by an extremely wide Callum Smith vs Joshua Buatsi scorecard, and those same fans were left outraged by Hamzah Sheeraz’s draw with Carlos Adames.
These are just two instances of this happening, but are not nearly the worst.
Many point to Josh Taylor vs Jack Catterall as the worst decision in recent times, and perhaps with the titles on the line, it was, but there is one lesser-known fight that left fans reeling at the controversial decision.
Jose Valenzuela won a world title after getting revenge on Chris Colbert
In 2023, on the undercard of Caleb Plant vs David Benavidez, 12-1 Jose Rayo Valenzuela took on 16-1 Chris Colbert.
The fight was scored a unanimous decision for Colbert, despite fans on social media finding the decision ridiculous after Valenzuela hurt Colbert multiple times throughout the fight.
Valenzuela himself acknowledged the poor decision in his post-fight interview, with the interviewer saying: “Obviously, Jose the fans feel as though you won the fight.”
To which Valenzuela replied: “I beat him, man. I beat him fair and square. I beat him, bro. I beat him. […] I dropped him. I dominated him.”
Colbert was adamant that the decision was correct and that he was the rightful winner, but a rematch was set up and the pair fought again later that year.
This time Valenzuela left no doubt. Ahead on the scorecards going into the sixth round, Valenzuela cemented himself in the division when he knocked Colbert out cold.
Valenzeula’s next fight saw him dethrone Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz for the WBA super lightweight world title. Cruz has only one other loss in the past eight years, which is to Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis.
Colbert’s next fight saw him stopped again, by Omar Salcido Gamez.
Jose Valenzuela will defend his title against Gary Antuanne Russell in the co-main event of Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach
Rayo Valenzuela will fight again on March 1st, on the undercard of Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach.
Davis comes off a streak of stopping undefeated fighters, with his last outing seeing the Baltimore talent dismantle Frank Martin.
Tank hopes to continue his explosive streak of knockouts to cement himself as a pound-for-pound elite. Davis’ trainer spoke of when Tank cried witnessing Adrien Broner achieve greatness, and how it was then that he knew he would go on to be a talent.
Davis is known for his impressive punch power, with Tank asking his team for some skittles just before he knocked out Hector Luis Garcia.
Valenzuela fights in the co-main event, taking on Gary Antuanne Russell, who holds a record of 17-1 with his one loss coming by split decision to Alberto Puello in his last fight.
Puello also fights on the card against Sandor Martin for the WBC super lightweight title.