Ranking the Strangest Moments in Boxing from 2014

As 2014 grinds its way toward its inevitable conclusion, we here at Bleacher Report have begun reflecting on some of the stranger, odder moments to make headlines in the sweet science.

And we have some real good ones.

Some were mild. Others bordered on the dangerous, and then there were the downright ridiculous.

There is literally something here for everyone.

Here are the 10 strangest moments in boxing from 2014.

10. Peter Quillin Says No to Career-High Payday

Rob Carr/Getty Images

Peter Quillin probably has a bit of buyer’s remorse.

He vacated his WBO Middleweight Championship in September, turning down a career-high payday of $1.4 million because he didn’t have any designs on facing then-unbeaten mandatory challenger Matt Korobov.

The decision seemed odd at the time and looks downright dumb now.

Korobov was knocked out by veteran contender Andy Lee for the vacant title on Saturday night in Las Vegas, and Quillin, who was slated to make more than three times his previous high payday, doesn’t have a fight on the horizon.

It’s not unusual to see a champion vacate a title in order to make a bigger, more lucrative fight, but that wasn’t the case here.

Sure, the Russian isn’t very well-known, but the price was definitely right, no?

Quillin apparently just didn’t want to face Korobov.

Why? Beats us.

Maybe you can ask Al Haymon, who manages the now-former champion.

9. Rod Salka Gets His Brief and Brutal Moment in the Sun

How often do you see a fight so grossly mismatched that the sanctioning bodies, some of which would declare a baked potato a worthy challenger, refuse to put their names on it?

Danny Garcia’s star faded quite a bit in 2014.

He lost—official scorecards be damned—to Mauricio Herrera but got a home-cooked decision in Puerto Rico, and then he signed on to face Rod Salka at the Barclays Center in 2014’s farce of the year.

Salka is a decent little fighter. He has some allure, for sure, which he showed in his next fight, but matching him against Garcia was ludicrous at best and dangerous at worst.

There's a massive gap between world class and club-level fighters, with Lightning Rod falling firmly into the latter category.

He entered the fight with just three knockouts in his 22 professional outings, wasn’t ranked at junior welterweight—why should he be when he never fought there before?—and didn’t receive sanction from the WBA or WBC to compete for their belts.

Trust me. That type of stuff doesn’t happen often, especially for a guy who, like Garcia, is considered the legitimate champion at his weight.

Salka, who appeared grossly undersized, was drilled early in the fight, suffering one of the scarier knockouts you’ll ever see.

Garcia almost literally removed his head from his shoulders in a fight that should bring shame to all those involved.

8. Jermain Taylor Wins a World Title

At the risk of being labeled a hater once again, the fact that Jermain Taylor, years removed from being a legitimate contender, even received a championship opportunity earlier this year is ridiculous.

That he won the belt doesn’t change a single thing.

Taylor is a former undisputed middleweight champion who has benefited from a string of questionable decisions throughout his career.

He had his day as a competent and successful pro, but at the time of his challenge against Sam Soliman, the Arkansas product hadn’t fought at middleweight or beaten a foe of any consequence in seven years.

And that makes no mention of his history of brutal knockout defeats, brain injuries or the worsening legal questions he now faces.

Taylor allegedly shot his cousin at his Arkansas home in August and will now face charges of first-degree battery and first-degree terroristic threatening—whatever that encompasses—carrying up to 26 years in prison.

Sure, he beat Soliman, who was a one-legged man for half the fight after suffering an injury, for a belt, but that’s more a function of the proliferation of championships and horrible judgment by those in charge of sanctioning title fights.

Even if he emerges unscathed from his legal troubles, Taylor competing with Gennady Golovkin or Quillin, both of whom can obviously punch, is a laughable and dangerous prospect.

7. Adonis Stevenson Blows Big Fight After Big Fight

Sergey Kovalev.

Bernard Hopkins.

Jean Pascal.

A light heavyweight who’s who?

Yes, but also a list of men that lineal champion Adonis Stevenson had the chance to fight this year before settling on...Dmitry Sukhotsky.

No disrespect to Stevenson. He’s a heck of an in-ring fighter, and Superman is my favorite superhero, but 2014 has been an unmitigated disaster for him ever since he jumped ship to Al Haymon and Showtime.

I'm not saying that the manager or network is responsible, but Stevenson walked from a showdown with Kovalev, took too long on Hopkins—allowing B-Hop to cross the street and face the Russian bomber himself— and then saw Pascal sign to face The Krusher in March.

Three premier, high-profile opponents went up in smoke.

Seriously, Kovalev is going to start inhabiting Stevenson’s dreams like a bad Freddy Krueger sequel at this point.

Why is all this strange?

It’s strange that a fighter like Stevenson, who came to success so late in his career and always talks about following the money, would mangle and bungle his career this badly now that he's finally made it big.

Short of the Kovalev-Pascal winner throwing him a bone, there’s almost nothing high-profile on the horizon for him in the near future.

And he has himself to blame.

6. Floyd Mayweather Led to the Ring by a Literal Circus

Mayweather is the consummate entertainer, and he lives in Las Vegas, a city known for its flashiness and over-the-top attractions.

Given that, it seems only logical that he’d be accompanied to the ring by what amounted to a full-blown circus, right?

And we don’t even mean Lil Wayne and Justin Bieber, though they were there too.

The pound-for-pound king definitely tried to up the bar before his May fight with then-welterweight titlist Marcos Maidana, engaging the services of Las Vegas entertainers to lead him out to the ring.

There were showgirls, jugglers, clowns and jesters, all doing their shtick before the undefeated fighter, accompanied by his rapper friend and Canadian wingman, made his way into the ring for what proved to be one of the toughest fights of his career.

Floyd dispensed with all that jazz for the rematch, emphasizing the seriousness of the matter and ditching the glitz and glamour in favor of a subdued entrance.

There were no clowns—just the burly gentlemen who make up his personal security.

5. Roberto Bolonti Makes a Fool of Himself

A pair of late changes left Jean Pascal and Roberto Bolonti, originally on the same card but in separate fights, stuck with each other in the main event on Dec. 6 in Montreal.

The fight was supposed to be little more than a stay-busy affair for Pascal, who earlier in the week had agreed to face Sergey Kovalev next March, but he didn’t get the chance to be very busy.

Bolonti really should have just stayed home. He embarrassed himself.

Pascal dropped the Argentine in the second round, running him into a left hand that seemed to be an indication of things to come.

Late in the round, with the fighters being separated by the referee, Pascal hit his foe late with what appeared to be a pitty-pat right hand. A foul, yes, but definitely not a homicide.

Bolonti, however, dropped like he ate a hook from a prime Mike Tyson, stayed down, had oxygen administered and was taken out on a stretcher.

It was bizarre to say the least, prompting Pascal’s trainer Roy Jones Jr. to outright accuse Bolonti of faking in an attempt to get a disqualification victory, telling Luke Furman of BoxingScene.com:

"

When you hit him for real and he really goes down, there’s a difference. When Jean hit him with the jab, he got up right away because he was embarrassed that he got knocked down from a jab. When he started faking, there was no chance he was coming back. This punch wasn’t as hard as the jab, but there was no chance he was getting up. It’s disgusting

"

The bout ended in a no-contest. Pascal still advances to his shot at Kovalev, and Bolonti should never get another significant fight.

However, with his dramatics, soccer is definitely an option.

4. Nonito Donaire "Pabons" Way to Victory

Kin Cheung/Associated Press

First, a little explanation.

“Pabons” refers to referee Luis Pabon, who is recognized as one of the shoddiest professional officials in boxing. It’s not unusual for him to become the story of the fight, making questionable or wholly unsupported calls that directly impact the outcome.

Don’t believe me?

Ask Simpiwe Vetyeka, who got jobbed out of a featherweight title against Nonito Donaire in Macau this past July.

Here’s what we know:

Near the end of Round 1, Donaire was badly cut over the left eye by an apparent headbutt. Why apparent? Because Pabon never seemed to make a ruling on the subject, leaving it anyone's guess.

That’s a crucial distinction. If the cut was ruled the result of a punch and the fight was stopped, Donaire would lose by TKO. If it was caused by a headbutt, the fight would be either a no-contest or technical decision, depending on how many rounds were completed.

Donaire frequently complained about the cut to Pabon, who oddly allowed the fighter to call virtual timeouts and stop the action when in distress. He controlled the third and fourth rounds, dropping his opponent with a left hook to take the lead, and then, just like that, the fight was over.

Huh?

Pabon, after consulting with officials at ringside, called a halt after four rounds, ringing the bell for the fifth to make the contest official and hand Donaire the decision and title.

Shady much?

Scott Christ of Bad Left Hook summed it up perfectly:

"

This is questionable at best, flat-out corrupt at worst, and given boxing's history and reputation, anyone might be forgiven for expecting the worst. Donaire said he wants to give Vetyeka a rematch, and if he does, then good on him, because from where I sit, the defending titleholder was jobbed today in Macau, and deserves another crack.

"

3. No Biting!

Boxing, unfortunately, has a well-documented history of fighters using their teeth rather than their fists to take a chunk out of their opponent.

In the case of Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, we mean that literally.

Fast forward some 17 years, and boxing fans were treated to another odd spectacle during a high-profile pay-per-view event.

Mayweather vs. Maidana 2 was a pretty pedestrian affair overall. It lacked much of the drama and entertainment value of the first contest some months earlier, and nothing about the fight really sticks out.

Oh, except for when Maidana bit Mayweather on the glove in Round 8.

Wait. What?

In fairness to the Argentine, replays seemed a bit inconclusive.

But in Round 8, with the fighters being separated by referee Kenny Bayless, Maidana certainly appeared to bite down on Mayweather’s glove, sending the pound-for-pound king into an understandable tizzy.

Sadly, that was the most exciting and dramatic moment of the 12-round affair.

Whether Floyd got a tetanus or even a rabies shot, we don't know, but it might have been a good idea.

2. Bob Arum Rips the MGM at the MGM in Front of MGM Executives

Bob Arum really needs to work on expressing himself and not holding his feelings so close to the vest.

The mercurial 83-year-old head of Top Rank didn’t take any prisoners at the final press conference before his main man Manny Pacquiao’s rematch with Timothy Bradley in April, lambasting the MGM Grand in front of one of its senior executives.

Arum, per Dan Rafael, was angry about the presence of so much Mayweather promotional material when his fight was just days away:

"

I know the Venetian [the Macau gambling resort that hosted Pacquiao's recent fights with Brandon Rios and Chris Algieri] wouldn’t make a mistake like this. They would know what fight they have scheduled in three or four days and they wouldn't have a 12-to-1 fight all over the building that's going to take place in three weeks. That's why one company makes a billion dollars a quarter and the other hustles to pay its debt. There it is, I say it like it is.

"

Talk about uncomfortable, even if Arum was making a completely valid point.

The comments were met by a fair mix of chuckling and gasping by the assembled media, with MGM Grand executive Richard Sturm sitting just feet from Arum on the podium.

Gutsy, Bob, gutsy.

Here's a tip: Don't call them, they'll call you.

For the record, Arum hardly seems to care, staging his latest Las Vegas foray at The Cosmopolitan.

1. Shannon Briggs Chases Wladimir Klitschko by Land and by Sea

Well, you can say this for Shannon Briggs, the big guy is persistent.

Briggs, the last American to hold a share of the heavyweight championship, has taken every available opportunity to stalk, harass and disrupt division kingpin Wladimir Klitschko in an attempt to earn an ill-fated fight.

Before we go any further, know that all the videos below contain language that, while hilarious at times, is most definitely not safe for work.

Watch at your own risk.

The 43-year-old has interrupted press conferences, meals—where he stole Wlad's food and had a cup of water spilled over his head—and workouts, even flying to Germany for the champion’s most recent fight, a knockout win over Kubrat Pulev, expressly for the purpose of continuing his trolling campaign.

Ridiculous?

You better believe it.

But it gets better.

Wlad can’t even find respite at sea.

In one of the oddest things you’ll ever see in the sport of boxing, Briggs pursued Klitschko in the waters off Hollywood, Florida, with the wake of his boat forcing the champion, who was training on a paddleboard, to fall into the water.

His repeated attempts at angering the champion haven’t gotten him any closer to a fight, though he has kept his name in the news.

No fight is definitely for the best.

Briggs took a horrific beating at the hands of Wlad’s older brother Vitali in 2010, in his last world title challenge and fight of any significance. 

Fighting Wlad, well, that's just a bad idea.