Busted: 10 dirty deeds in sports history
6. Flying elbows
The Sport: Basketball
The Shame: Layups, jump shots, and fade-away shots, are just some shooting styles you need to learn in playing basketball, but for this National Basketball Association (NBA) player, his “elbow shot” invention definitely shouldn’t be repeated. Known to be a power forward Hall of Famer, Karl Malone of Utah Jazz is also known to be one of the dirtiest players in sports history. In the 1991 National Basketball Association (NBA) tourney, Malone delivered a solid elbow to Detroit Piston’s All-star Isiah Thomas’ face when his opponent tried to score a shot. The incident got more serious as Thomas needed 40 stitches to close the cut above his eye.
The Sentence: $10,000 fine and a one-game suspension
5. Dope defense
The Sports: American Football
The Shame: Drinking steroids might boost your muscles and improve your athletic performance, but it also serves you a for-sure game suspension. In 2005, San Diego Chargers’ outside linebacker Shawne Merriman finished his first National Football League (NFL) season with 57 tackles and 10 sacks with the Defensive Rookie of the Year award despite receiving allegations of using steroids. In October 2006, he was given a four-game suspension after testing positive for steroids intake. After eight NFL seasons, Merriman announced his retirement on March 5, 2013.
The Sentence: Four-game suspension
4. The king of plaster of Paris
The Sport: Boxing
The Shame: Known as “The Tijuana Tornado” and Manny Pacquiao’s opponent in a fight for the WBC Super Welterweight championship last 2010, Antonio Margarito carved his name in infamy as the king of plaster of Paris. In January 2009 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, fellow boxer Shane Mosley’s trainer called for a review as he noticed Antonio Margarito’s gloves had too much wrap. After the match, the substances in Margarito’s gloves were identified as “Plaster of Paris,” a form of calcium phosphate derived from gypsum that hardens when wet.
The Sentence: Suspension and confiscated boxing license.
3. The bite fight
The Sport: Boxing
The Shame: In boxing, a player uses his fists to punch his opponent, but in the 1997 World Boxing Association (WBA) Heavyweight Championship’s “The Sound and the Fury,” Mike Tyson used his mouth—and his teeth—instead. In the heat of the third round, a furious Mike Tyson bit off Evander Holyfield’s ear, removing a small part from the top of his ear which immediately bled, but the ringside doctor said that Hoyfield could still play. The fight was marked in boxing history of the world as “The bite fight.”
The Sentence: Disqualification and boxing license reinstated
