Boxing -- Many Boxers Say They Took A Dive -- Promoters, Matchmakers Sought Rankings, Good Records To Draw Lucrative Title Bouts

MIAMI - More than 30 prizefights have been fixed or tainted by fraud over the past 12 years, according to men who have fought and lost to George Foreman, Frans Botha, Eric "Butterbean" Esch and other top-ranked fighters.

Tony Fulilangi, once a world-ranked heavyweight, says he faked a second-round knockout by George Foreman on Oct. 27, 1988, in Marshall, Texas. "I really hate to say this because it's not good for the sport," Fulilangi said. "I took a dive."

Former heavyweight Andre Smiley says he made thousands of dollars faking 14 knockouts from 1990 to '97.

Some fighters negotiated payments to throw matches. Others, unbribed, fell down merely to avoid injury and get a quick paycheck.

Boxers told The Miami Herald that many fraudulent matches were arranged by promoters or matchmakers to improve a fighter's record and ranking to earn big-money title fights.

Iran Barkley, a former world light heavyweight champion, has been asked to throw a match. "They said, `I'll give you $30,000 to do this, to do that,' " he said, declining to identify who approached him. "They wanted to build up some kid and felt my name would look good on his record. . . . I would never do it."

Fulilangi says nobody asked him to throw his fight to Foreman. No one had to. Then 28, Fulilangi says he took the match after telling a promoter that he had a bad back and a bum leg and was semi-retired. The promoter insisted and the money was good: $30,000.

Foreman floored Fulilangi twice. "He never hit me the third time," Fulilangi said. "He jabbed me and threw a swinging right hand. I went under it and sat down."

Videotape of the fight confirms Fulilangi's account. Announcer Al Albert said: "I don't think he even connected, but it is being counted as a knockdown."

Said Fulilangi, "I went down just to get the money. I went to the airport with a smile on my face."

Foreman, 50, laughed and said: "That happened to me all the time. If they're getting a whuppin', it's up to them to decide if they want to continue."

Two former heavyweights, Andre Smiley and Mike Smith, say they threw fights for Sean Gibbons, a matchmaker with Top Rank Inc. "A complete lie," Gibbons said.

Two other men say they helped fix matches for the late promoter Rick Parker. Former heavyweight Tim Murphy said he conspired with Parker to throw a 1991 fight with former pro football star Mark Gastineau. Boxer-turned-matchmaker Sonny Barch said that under instructions from Parker, he bought 10 or 11 victories for Florida heavyweight Mitch Sammons in the late 1980s and early '90s.

The comeback of George Foreman, who first won the title in 1973, includes questionable fights. Before winning the heavyweight title again in 1994, Foreman knocked out at least five men who entered the ring with bogus records. One of them, Mike Jameson, was billed as having a 17-15 record when he was 13-16 and hadn't fought in nearly three years.

Foreman also knocked out one opponent who fought under multiple names. Journeyman Frank Lux suffered a third-round knockout by Foreman in 1988 while using the alias Frank Williams. Promoters listed Williams as 33-13-3 when he fought Foreman in Anchorage, Alaska. According to Fight Fax Inc., official keeper of boxing records, Lux, who also fought as Frank Albert, was 14-28.

Lux, who denies ever taking a dive, says he learned about fake identities and how to escape injury in the ring from manager Bruce "The Mouse" Strauss.

Sworn statements and interviews with more than 60 fighters, promoters, trainers, managers, matchmakers and commissioners suggest The Herald identified only a fraction of the fraud.

"People say it doesn't go on but it does," says one former world champion who requested anonymity. "I've been there when they fixed fights. I'm talking about people paying people to take dives. I've seen the rehearsals. I have first-hand knowledge of that. It still happens. A lot."